Avalanche
by heavyheartsandhope
Summary: Freshly out of his stint in rehab, TK has to learn how to adjust back to normal life for his last year of high school. But with an untrusting mother, former teammates who don't understand addiction, and his best friend dropping off of the face of the earth, TK realizes that rehab didn't fix all of his problems. In fact, his problems are just beginning. *Sequel to Comedown*
1. It Hits Like An Avalanche

" _And no it's not a phase cause it happens all the time  
Start over, check again, now tell me what you find"_

 _Avalanche-Bring Me The Horizon_

* * *

The sound of the car engine drowned out the sounds of his classmates passing by the car he was in. Parked outside of the school, he watched as his classmates merrily made their entrance into the school, unaware of the boy in that car with his mother. He felt out of place, not walking with his friends to his last year of school. He had walked to school every day since he moved there. But with the circumstances of the summer, he didn't question his mother's reasoning.

"TK, quit sulking," his mother said, placing a hand on her son's lap.

TK looked over from the window towards his mother and gave her a small, yet insecure smile. "Good advice, Mom," he joked, picking up some books from where set them on the floorboard.

Ms. Takaishi worried, hearing the fake confidence in her son's voice. "If you're not ready—"

"We talked about this, Mom," the teenager chided, a stern look plastered across his face. "The next step in recovery is getting back to my normal routine."

His mother removed her hand, placing her fingers gingerly on the steering wheel. "I know that, TK, it's just..."

Her mind wandered as she saw some boys she remembered from TK's basketball team walk passed the car and onto the school grounds. TK looked over at where his mother was staring and felt his body freeze up at the realization of his mother's worry.

"I'm not going to relapse, if that's what you're worried about," TK smiled, reaching for the car handle.

"Well, that's part of it," Ms. Takaishi sighed. Ever since her youngest son was released from rehab a few days before, a million concerns ran through her mind about what could happen next. "Just please, if you ever feel like you can't handle anything, call me? I'll come get you."  
TK rolled his eyes playfully. He knew his mother worried, and that she had every right to worry, but he felt like she was going a little overboard. TK had problems that summer, but he knew he was getting better.

He opened the door, throwing one leg out when his mother stopped. "Wait," she stopped, reaching for a small container in the center console. "Have you taken your meds?"

TK groaned, trying to keep his distaste for the topic quiet from his mother. He reached over for the container and popped it open, before slipping a pill into his mouth and using his mother's coffee to down it.

Ms. Takaishi furrowed her brows. "Should you have taken that with caffeine?"

TK pursed his lips together. "I think I'll be fine," he answered, annoyed. "I took it, didn't I?"

His mother didn't answer. TK shut the door behind him and began walking towards the school grounds when he heard the window roll down and his mother's voice call his name.  
"I'm not going to be home when you get home. I want you to go to your brother's after school," she informed, yelling from inside the car.

TK turned around and raised an eyebrow. "Don't you trust me to stay alone?"

His mother didn't respond. Her face looked hurt, but serious. That answered his question: she didn't trust him.

TK didn't bother to argue with her. He looked down at his watch, noting that he only had five minutes to get to class. He nodded, "okay, Mom," before walking up the school steps.

* * *

TK sat down by himself at lunch, not in the mood to eat, but knowing he had to get something in his system. He pulled a bag of strawberries his mother had packed and groaned. TK liked strawberries, but his mother had insisted on packing and making all of his food according to some research she found on the nutrition of recovering alcoholics. As many times as he told her that he could take care of himself in that aspect, she refused to budge.

Taking a bite of his first fruit, TK's eyes surveyed the school ground. The weather outside was hot, causing some students to stay inside, but TK never minded the heat. Being outside also had to added perk of being alone.

Since TK's arrival this morning, he had been seen by the school counselor twice, been pulled aside by a teacher who had "been down that road before," and various classmates that asked if he was okay. While he knew he should have been grateful for the concern and willingness to help, he couldn't stand the attention he was getting.

TK knew that coming back to school would pose this risk. Every faculty member was made aware of his condition, as protocol apparently stated. Since his collapse happened at a party, the word of what happen traveled fast. Everyone in his grade level and some below knew what was going on with the basketball player.

He hadn't seen any of the DigiDestined, though. Cody was a grade below him, not giving him much opportunity to run into the youngest member. Davis had been in one class with him, but TK was pulled out by the counselor before they had a chance to talk. Kari had been missing the whole day. TK hadn't seen her in the halls, in class, nor at that moment at lunch.

Finishing his one strawberry, he grabbed another before putting the rest back in his backpack. He wasn't terribly hungry and he could save it for a snack later at Matt's. His mind wandered to his brother. He was the only DigiDestined he had been able to meet up with since his accident. Even then, those meeting didn't give much of a clue as to what was going on with everyone else. Omitting one trip to the Digital World to explain to the Digimon what had happened, the group hadn't been together since TK's intervention.

TK sighed, leaning his head back against the shadowed wall of the school. It felt weird being by himself, despite how much he wished he was left alone since the beginning of his day. If it were last year, TK would be having lunch with Kari and Davis, or maybe some teammates. It seemed, however, that his teammates were avoiding him like he had the plague. None of them had made an effort to come talk to him, although a few had sent some letters to the center while he was away. Being alone in the middle of the day just wasn't something TK was used to.

TK's eyes darted to two girls walking passed him, giggling into each other as they passed. His eyes widened. Were they talking about him? He looked around at the rest of the yard, trying to find anyone that was looking at him to no avail. TK sighed, calming down.

"Stop thinking that," he whispered to himself, grabbing a strap on his backpack. "You're just paranoid."

TK stood up, throwing his bag on one shoulder. The effort to match his other shoulder was mute. The blonde made his way towards the door, needing to get out of the courtyard and go somewhere quiet. The library seemed like a good option. Maybe he could get some of his school work started.

The door swung open and TK strolled through, acting as casual as he could. He didn't want to attract any attention to himself, in case a teacher saw him and contacted the counselor again.

The chatter from the school cafeteria rang in his ears as he passed. TK peeked in, noticing his whole team sitting at their usual table. For a split second, it felt wrong, not being in there. He stopped in his tracks, turning around towards the door. He reached a hand out and quickly snatched it away. Shaking his head, he turned around again and walked towards the library. He knew he had to reintroduce himself into his normal routine, but today wasn't that day.

The library was almost vacant, save for the librarians and few over-achievers who started studying for university entrance exams. Finding a seat, TK plopped himself down, throwing his head on top of his backpack. Entrance exams were a thing he hadn't thought much about. In fact, he had completely forgotten about them, with everything else going on.

TK tried to push the girls from earlier and the exams out of his mind. It made his heart race and his head spin. He didn't need to be concerned by that. He hadn't known if the girls were talking about him. It was a conclusion he jumped to.

TK shook his head again and pulled out a history book. He flipped to the first chapter and put his finger underneath the first sentence. His eyes scanned the words as his finger moved, but he didn't retain anything.

"Archduke Franz Ferdinand of Austria was assassinated in June 1914 in Sarajevo, Bosnia by a Serbian nationalist," he read aloud.

"Archduke Franz Ferdinand of Austria was assassinated in June 1914 in Sarajevo, Bosnia by a Serbian nationalist."

"Archduke Franz Ferdinand of Austria was—"

TK groaned shutting the book in front of him. His mind couldn't concentrate on the history of World War I. "I could use a drink," he mumbled, throwing his head back down on the table.

Head in his arms, his eyes widened, realizing what he just said. Thought of his drinking days last semester ran through his mind, and the back of his throat felt a familiar burn for a second.

TK's head shot up again, pushing those memories from his mind. "No," he whispered, opening the book back up. His hand reached over for his bag, pulling out a pen and a notebook. "No."

Laying the untouched notebook in front of him, TK ran his eyes over the beginning of the textbook again. "Archduke Franz Ferdinand of Austria was assassinated in June 1914 in Sarajevo, Bosnia by a Serbian nationalist," he whispered, writing down bullet points from the statement.

TK continued reading and writing, making it through the first two pages before he stopped to evaluate his work. His handwriting was sloppy and barely legible. The clock on the wall said only three minutes had passed, meaning the blonde hadn't taken his time. TK tried to recall what he wrote, but couldn't remember anything passed the points on Archduke Franz Ferdinand.

TK sighed and pushed the book away from him on the table. He flipped over a clean page in the notebook and touched his pen to the paper. The ink took off as TK begin to write. He wasn't quite sure what he was writing, but half a page was filled in no time.

He remembered this trick from his therapy sessions. He loved writing, so the therapist suggested he write whenever he felt nervous or stressed or confused about what he felt. In that moment, TK had too many feeing to classify as one.

The bell rang, pulling TK out of his trance. He looked up and watched the other students pack up and head out. He reached over for his history book and shoved it in his backpack. He closed the notebook without reading what he had written. Throwing the bag over his shoulder, he walked from the library and out to his next class, trying to forget the weird lunch period he had just experienced.

* * *

The simmer of a pan rang through the apartment. TK sat at his brother's dining table, trying to recopy the hasty notes on World War I he had taken during lunch. His eyes darted back and forth from the notebook to the textbook, trying to decipher what exactly he had written.

"Hey, TK, come here," Matt called.

Grateful for a distraction, TK jumped up from his chair and strolled into the kitchen. Matt stood up the pan, pushing some ingredients with a wooden spoon. Noticing his brother's entry, Matt turned around and smiled at his brother. "Could you hand me the salt?" he asked, nodding his head to a cupboard on the opposite side of the kitchen. "It's in that cabinet."

TK nodded and did as he was asked. Standing on his tiptoes, he reached up and pulled down the grinder. He walked back over to his brother and handed him the salt. Matt thanked the younger boy and started the final preparations for their dinner.

TK jumped up on the counter next to the stove, sitting down with his legs dangling off the side. He watched as Matt finished sautéing peppers and small strips of chicken in the pan, adding some salt to season. TK watched silently, entranced by the cooking his brother was doing. He had always enjoyed watching Matt cook when he was younger. Back then, he thought of his older brother as some kind of superhero for being able to make food as good as his mother could.

But now that he was older, as he watched his brother reduce the heat to the pan, TK knew why Matt learned how to do all of that stuff when he was young. TK knew the divorce of their parents placed a burden on Matt when he chose to go with their dad, who was very rarely at home to make dinner for them himself. Matt had to learn quickly how to make a homemade meal instead of living off of takeout for the rest of his life.

The younger brother didn't like to bring that up, though. Their parents' divorce was still a tough subject for the brothers, despite how close they were. They had their ups and downs, their most recent being TK's addiction, but Matt was always a stable thing in his little brother's life. That's what the brothers needed: stability.

Matt looked over at his brother staring into the pan. He smirked, noticing where he was seated. "Get your butt of the counter. I prepare food there," he joked, removing the pan from the stove and walking it over to the two plates set out of the other countertop.

TK laughed and jumped down from the counter, following his brother to the plates. TK felt his mouth water as Matt plated their dinner. "Looks good, bro," TK commented, laughing. "A lot better than that diet Mom has me on."

Matt snorted, smirking at the statement. "Yeah, she gave me a few recipes from that website she looked up to make tonight, but I decided you needed actual food."

Matt handed TK the first plate and sent him to the dining room. He sighed, thinking about the lie he told. While this was a recipe he normally made, it was a variant of one of the recipes his mother had sent. While he wanted to be friendly with his little brother, he knew he couldn't get him off track this soon.

Matt finished plating his own dish and went to the dining table. TK sat across from him, having pushed his school work onto the floor beside the table. Matt rolled his eyes at the mess on the other side. "You're going to pick that up, right?" he joked.

TK took a bite of his chicken. "Sue me," he mumbled with his mouth half full.

Matt just shook his head and begin his own meal. The brothers ate in silence. This wasn't their first meal since TK was discharged, but it held a different feeling than the others. Matt knew why. It was because this was TK's first real day of integration back into the real world. He wanted to address it, but he was worried about how it went.

Matt knew TK still had a long way to go. A two-month stint in rehab wasn't going to solve his problems immediately. There were still consequences that he had to face socially. With most of his friendship he had made being based on partying and alcohol, Matt wondered how TK would do his final year of high school being a social outcast, not being able to go to the last parties, the celebrations, or anything where alcohol could be present.

Matt looked over at his brother, who had almost finished his meal. He was rolling a slice of pepper around on his plate with his fork before finally picking it up and eating it. Something was on his mind and Matt would have to drag it out.

"So how was your first day?" Matt asked, causing TK to look up shocked.

The shock wore away fast as he went back to playing with his food. "Oh, it was fine," he answered, looking down at his plate.

"Did you get to talk to any of your friends?"

TK pursed his lips, upset by the reality of his day. "Not really," he responded, the hurt coming from his voice. "I have a class with Davis, but we weren't able to talk. I never ran into Cody, not that I expected to. Kari was nowhere to be found. And my team was avoiding me hardcore."

Matt bit the inside of his lip, disappointed in the answer. "That sucks," he mumbled, stabbing at his food. He had hoped for an easier transition back for this brother.

TK looked up with a stupid grin on his face. "But now I know that the assassination of Archduke Franz Ferdinand of Austria started World War I."

Matt pursed his lips and glared jokingly at his brother. Despite having no one familiar around him for his first day. Matt was glad that TK had found some humor in his day. That's how the brother's dynamic was: Matt brooded while TK joked. Since the beginning of this journey, both brothers had taken the roll of the brood of the family. Despite trying to keep in a laugh across from his brother, Matt was thankful that the dynamic between the two was back.

Something about his little brother's description of his day threw him off. "So no Kari, huh? Did you message her?"

TK nodded with a mouthful of food. "Twice," he mumbled between bites. Swallowing, he continued, confused, "I didn't get a reply all day. I haven't seen her in two months. You'd figure that she would be running to come see her best friend."

Matt furrowed his eyebrows in contemplation. "You'd figure," he agreed. It made no sense to him why she wouldn't try to get in touch with TK. The two had become inseparable after their second adventure to the Digital World.

"Come to think of it," TK interrupted, pointing his fork at his brother. "She never tried to keep in contact with me the whole time I was there. At least my teammates sent me a letter every now and then."

Matt continued to look back at the events of that summer, trying to piece together where he had lost connection with the younger DigiDestined. He hadn't heard much from any of the other DigiDestined, other than quick questioned about TK's state. The last time he had seen Kari was the day of the incident. After that, the occasional text was the only communication. Even so, Matt couldn't recall when the last message he got from Kari was.

"I mean, I know things were a little awkward between us before I left," TK continued, shrugging his shoulders as he continued his meal. "But I don't think it was awkward enough to stop talking to me. Don't you think, Matt?"

Matt shook his head, staring down at his plate. "No, not really," Matt answered. "Though there was definitely some tension there. Tai and I talked about it the next day."

TK bit his cheek and huffed. He nodded, thinking back on their last interaction. He remembered Kari seeming more distant than she ever had. She would barely make eye contact with him. She was tense and almost closed-off towards her best friend. TK was confused at the time, but he remembered brushing it off, knowing they would discuss what it was after he got back. But now, he didn't know when that talk was going to be.

"Have you talked to Tai recently?" TK asked, hoping maybe Tai would have given Matt some hints as to why Kari was AWOL on their first day.

Matt shook his head. "No, not recently," he answered, finishing off the last of his dinner. "Come to think of it, Tai's been pretty hidden lately as well."

The brothers sat thinking about their best friend's withdrawal from them. TK had some idea as to why Kari was avoiding him, but Matt's realization was new. He thought back on his last interactions with the older Kamiya, trying to remember how he had acted.

"The last time I was with Tai, he seemed fidgety. He couldn't stop moving," Matt recalled, standing up from the table. He reached over for TK's finished plate before continuing. "It was like he was trying to hide something from me."

TK followed Matt into the kitchen, watching as his brother loaded the dishwasher. He jumped back up on the counter, gripping onto the edges with a confused look on his face. "Weird," he sighed.

Matt added a dishwasher pack to the soap compartment and shut the door. The infrequent interactions between the DigiDestined wasn't an uncommon occurrence. As they all got older, it was harder to keep the group fully intact. Still, throughout all of the separating, the two sets of siblings always seemed to be around each other somehow. Matt wondered what the sudden distance was due to.

The older blonde shook his head from the thought. "It's probably nothing," he concluded, turning around to lean against the opposite counter. "We're probably just paranoid."

TK laughed at his brother's analysis. "If you say so. But you better snap out of that." TK pointed towards his chest with his thumb, a dumb grin on his face. "I'm the one on medication for paranoia. I'm the only one allowed to be paranoid around here."

Matt rolled his eyes and walked over to his brother. "Shut up," he laughed, messing up TK's hair. "And get your ass off of the counter. I make food there."

* * *

 **AN: Okay, I caved and wrote a sequel. I'm currently writing chapter three, but I'm also moving houses and getting ready to go back to college in three weeks, so updates will not be as frequent as they were with _Comedown_. I was very hesitant to publish this, because I am still concerned that my shipping of Takari will take over this story (because that's something that will _have_ to be addressed later on in the plotline. Like legit, there's no way around it). I want to focus on the three main issues that will be important to this story and not just the one that it was originally supposed to be. Regardless, there will be an interesting storyline that anyone who enjoyed _Comedown_ should enjoy as well. **


	2. Who Is In Control?

" _I'm meaner than my demons.  
I'm bigger than these bones."  
Control-Halsey_

* * *

"Hey, TK, wait up!" a familiar voice called him from down the hall.

TK turned around, trying to identify who had called him. He had just finished his first full week back and had barely talked to anyone other than counsellors, Davis, and Cody once. Neither of those identities matched the voice behind him.

The blonde's eye widened as Tyler, a boy on his basketball team, stopped on front of him, trying to catch his breath from running down the hall. "Hey... TK," he greeted, a smile plastered on his worn-out face.

TK furrowed his eyebrows suspiciously, but gave his former teammate a smile anyway. "Hey, Tyler. Long time, no see."

"Yeah, it's great to see you back, man," Tyler commented, patting TK's shoulder. "How have you been? I've seen you around all this week, but haven't really gotten a chance to say hey or anything."

TK nodded his acknowledgement. While he wasn't sure if the week-long shun by his basketball team was intentional, TK still held some suspicion about why it took a week for one of them to approach him. But he couldn't remain upset for too long. Despite what he had done with them, his teammates were a third family for him, along with his actual family and the DigiDestined. Tyler was someone he had spent most of his high school career with. It would be hard to just drop him now.

"Yeah, sorry about that," TK apologized, running a hand through his hair. "When people think you're crazy, there's not much room for downtime."

Tyler's face faltered at TK's analysis of himself. "Nah, dude, d-don't say that," he stammered, shrugging. "I still think you're the same old TK; we all do."

TK rolled his eyes playfully at Tyler's inclusion of the rest of his former team. He was sure that after the Coach forbid him to try out for his last year, most of the boys would drop him immediately. Instead of going any deeper on that topic, TK diverged. "I appreciate it, Tyler."

The boys continue to walk in silence down the hall. Something felt off to the blonde teenager about how his friend was around him. TK peeked over, noticing how timid and nervous Tyler seemed. A grimace fell across his face. It was easy to tell that his friend didn't know how to act around him just yet.

"Hey, Tyler," TK said, getting his friend's attention. The pair stopped walking outside of the front door of the school. TK turned towards the other boy and put on his most caring smile he had. "You don't have to walk on eggshells around me. I'm getting better." He reached out and placed his hand on Tyler's shoulder. "You don't have to be nervous around me."

Tyler sighed. "I just didn't know if you blamed any of us for what happened," he admitted. "We all feel really bad."

TK smirked, feeling that he had had that same conversation with someone else before. "You guys did nothing wrong," he assured. "I needed to learn to handle myself. No big deal." He waved his hand, emphasizing his point.

Tyler raised an eyebrow. "No big deal? TK, you almost died."

TK bit his lip, cringing at that memory. "Yeah, let's not bring that up." Tyler apologized, which TK awkwardly accepted. "My point is that I'm the same TK from before all of this happened. I just can't drink alcohol."

Tyler still looked nervous, but accepted TK's explanation. "Okay, I'll try not to 'walk on eggshells,' as you said," he teased at TK's phrasing. "But hey, all of the guys missed you a lot. We're having a party tonight to celebrate finishing our first week. You in?"

TK pursed his lips. "What did I just tell you about alcohol?"

Tyler held up his hands, shaking him quickly. "No, no, no," he stammered. "Non-alcoholic party tonight. Just for you. Promise."  
TK's lips remained pursed, knowing his teammates tricks for sneaking alcohol anywhere. He knew how they brought it to school dances, out-of-town tournaments, and other various locations they weren't allowed to have it. If they had it, they would find a way to bring it.

But still, they been some of the few people that kept in touch with him when he was away. He figured he owed them at least a thank-you in person. TK nodded, "Okay, I'll be there."

* * *

"I'm not sure that's a good idea," his mother sighed, biting her lip as she reached up for a plate from the top shelf of the cupboard.

TK stood up from his seat at the table and walked over to her. "Mom, I know that you're worried, but I was promised that it would be a clean party," he assured her, bringing down the plate with ease.

Thanking him for the plate, his mother looked up at her youngest son with a worried smile. She thought back to when her son could barely reach the counter, using a chair to help her with whatever she was doing in the kitchen. Now that he was taller than her, it was the opposite situation. Her youngest son was almost an adult, yet he had already been through more than a mother could ever dread for her child.

"I just don't know, TK," she conceded. "These are the people who started your whole habit."

TK cringed, knowing how she still blamed others instead of him. No matter what TK or the specialist said, he knew his mother had a hard time placing the blame for her son's addiction on her son himself. "Mom, it's not them," he reminded.

She groaned, setting the plate down on the counter. She reached for her towel and wiped her hands off anxiously. Her eyes were fixed on the dinner plates she was preparing, not wanting to show her son the anxiety raising in her at the prospect of TK being back where his problem had started. "Can't you take someone with you? Maybe your brother could go."

TK raised an eyebrow, still trying to figure out when his mother and his brother had become so friendly again. He shook his head, "I'm not going to bother Matt to escort me to a high school party. He's in college. He probably already had plans."

"Okay, well what about Ken?" his mother quickly resolved, raising her head to show her worried look. "Or Davis? Or Cody? Someone I know that I can trust to be there with you."

TK bit his tongue to stop himself for saying anything rude. His thoughts about his mother were true: she didn't trust him alone. Although he knew he hadn't given her much reason to trust him alone. He sighed, taking the now full plate his mother handed over to him. "Okay, I'll call one of them if it'll make you feel better."

His mother nodded, wanting to give her son a smile, but the serious expression wouldn't leave her face. "It would."

* * *

TK had known deep down that it would be a bad idea to go that night. Walking down the hall of the complex, he wished he had listened to that feeling. He could hear the music blasting from two different apartments, each one of his former teammates. He bit his lip, knowing what he had now gotten himself into.

"We can turn around," Cody suggested next to him. "There's a new documentary on political scandals that I'm sure would be very interesting instead."

TK wanted to laugh at his DNA partner's suggestion, but he couldn't. His mind had too many thoughts going on to respond properly. As they got closer and closer to the party, TK was thankful that it was Cody who accompanied him. The younger boy always had a better, more mature head on his shoulders than the rest of the DigiDestined. If anyone could spot a bad situation, it would be Cody.

TK shook his head as they made it to Tyler's apartment. "We'll just stay for a couple minutes, say hi to some people, then slip out."

Cody looked worried. "Are you sure that's a good idea?"

TK nodded, despite the smell of alcohol already hitting him from outside of the door. His hand tingled, feeling like it should be holding something. He shook his hand, knowing the sensation was all in his head.

"Part of my recovery is integration back into the real world," he repeated, having been saying it in his head all week. "The real world isn't some protected bubble. The real world had alcohol in it." He looked down at Cody, smiling and giving a thumbs up. "Baby steps. I'll be fine."

With an unsure smile, Cody nodded back. "Okay, then. It's your call." His voice got authoritative, knowing he would have to take some command over the night. "But we're staying a half hour at the most."

TK reached for the door handle and replied with an unsure laugh. "Whatever you say, Young Reliable."

Cody's eyes widened at the scene behind the door. He had never been to a party like this before, always opting to remain in legal activities. A mix of drunken teenagers mingled in every nook of the apartment, each holding some form of obvious alcoholic beverage. Cody wasn't sure how anyone could hear the conversations supposedly being had over the music. His eyes darted over to TK, who seemed to be at home in the debauchery. This scared the younger boy, who resolved to lower the time remaining.

TK walked through the room, already feeling nauseous at the smell of alcohol around him. His eyes darted from person to person, remembering what he could about each one. Every memory had he was blurred by his former intoxication though. His heart raced in both excitement and nervousness. He was back where he had felt most comfortable, but he knew he shouldn't be there.

"You're recovering. You're recovering," he mumbled to himself through a smile as he waved to a few people he recognized from his partying days. "You're recovering."

A tug pulled on his shirt sleeve. "Maybe we should just leave now," Cody suggested, looking around as nervous as TK felt. TK knew this wasn't Cody's most comfortable scene, making him the perfect person to take to make sure he didn't do anything wrong. But at the same time, TK felt bad for putting Cody in a position outside of his comfort zone.

TK nodded, knowing the mistake he had made. His body's first instinct was to dart to the kitchen and take the closest shot within grasp. The back of his mind was already planning a beer pong strategy, calculating how many shots he would need to be as good as he was since his body hadn't had alcohol in a while. He knew it wouldn't take as many as it had before, since his system had been cleansed for two months.

He shook his head, realizing what he had been thinking. He had been thinking like the old TK. He knew he wasn't good. His reentry was too fast. "Okay, give me fifteen minutes to find the guys, say hi, and then we'll leave."

Cody nodded in acceptance, staying as close to TK as possible. Cody had no idea how his DNA partner had been able to stand such a scenario. Just walking passed drunk people trying their hardest to seduce an equally drunk partner made the youngest DigiDestined's skin crawl.

When TK stopped walking in what he assumed was the living room of the apartment, Cody looked up to see TK high-fiving some guys from the basketball team. Cody had recognized them from when the younger DigiDestined group went to cheer TK on during some games. Cody's eyes went to the cups in their hands, knowing that none of them were sober.

"So glad you could make it," Tyler yelled, clapping TK's back.

TK nodded, gently pushing his drunk friend off of him. "Yeah, glad I could, too. Though, I thought you said this was a..." TK looked around at all of the empty bottles on the tables and ground around him. "Sober party? And with a lot less people?"

Tyler's eyes widened, drunkenly remembering what he had told TK. "Oh my god, I am so sorry," he apologized, handing his beer to the guy behind him and stumbling forward in the process. "Everybody, liquor out! If you're drunk, leave!" he yelled, causing a commotion of drunk teenagers.

TK held up his hands, steading his friend by his chest. "No, no," he yelled, awkwardly laughing at the people around him. "Liquor can stay! Enjoy your party."

Tyler looked up at TK with a sad expression. "I'm so sorry. I didn't plan for this happen. The dance team showed up with alcohol and that made a bunch of other people go get some and—"

"Tyler," TK interrupted his friend's rambling. He gave him a half-convincing smile. "It's fine. I don't blame you." He pointed back to Cody beside him. "We're going to leave, okay? I just wanted to come see you guys for a minute."

Tyler still looked upset. "Okay, if you say so." He placed a hand on TK's shoulder. "But you and I are going to do something sober together, I promise. I've gotta make it up to you."

TK nodded, placing a hand on Tyler's hand, knowing that if he tried to remove it again, the other boy would fall down. He felt the weight on his shoulder like it was the only think stabilizing the other boy. "It's a date," he joked.

Tyler's face scrunched up as he quickly removed his hand. "I'm not gay, TK," he laughed.

TK rolled his eyes, turning his body towards the entrance. "Still the same, slightly-homophobic Tyler." He eyed Cody, nodding towards the door. "Let's go watch that documentary."

Cody's eyes widened, smiling profusely at the thought. "I think you'll really like it! It's discussed the American political scandal Watergate and how it effects American policy." It wasn't just that he thought the topic of the film was fascinating, but he was thankful to be leaving a scene that made him and his DNA partner uncomfortable, regardless of the differing reasons.

TK laughed at how excited Cody sounded about something that was so boring. It wasn't that TK was particularly excited about a film on political policy caused by scandals. In all honesty, he knew he had gotten himself in too deep. The baby steps he thought he was taking turned out to be a marathon sprint. More importantly, he knew he had to leave so he wouldn't worry his mother, not that he would tell her about this incident. She already didn't trust him. Telling her to truth would destroy any freedom TK barely had.

Before he could respond to Cody's enthusiasm on American politics, his mind stopped, remembering something Tyler had just said.

"Wait," he exclaimed, turning around to his former teammates. "You said the dance team was here? Is Kari here?" He knew that this could be his chance to talk to the friend who had left him up to dry for the past two months. He had to get to the bottom of her absence.

Tyler's eyebrows furrowed. "No. Why would she be here?"

TK's eyes widened, confused by his statement. "Why would she not be here?"

Tyler's eyes widened in response. "Oh, you don't know? We assumed she told you."

TK's heart raced. Could something be wrong with his best friend that she hadn't told him? It didn't make sense that she would hide a prolonged absence from him. "Know what?"

Tyler took a sip of his drink, needing some liquid encouragement to break the news to his friend. The whole team knew how close the two DigiDestined were. If TK didn't know, then something must have gone down between the two since TK had left. "She told her team she was studying abroad for the first semester."

Another boy interrupted, leaning on Tyler's shoulder. "Said she'd be coming back in December for second semester."

"Kind of weird to study abroad your last year," Kyle, another teammate, pointed out. "She didn't even say bye or anything. She just left in May."

TK looked down at Cody, hurt and confused by what he was told. "Did you know about this?"

Cody shook his head. "No, I knew nothing. Kari hadn't talked to anyone of us since your incident."

TK's head raced with questions as to why Kari hadn't told him. It seemed to be a pretty innocent thing. He remembered Kari had always talked about study abroad, wanting to leave Odaiba for school at some point. It just made no sense to him why she wouldn't tell any of the DigiDestined.

He wanted to march into the kitchen and make himself a drink to take off the anxiety that was newly forming within in. The confusion needed to be drown out, and the tiny bit of betrayal that started to make its way up from his thoughts begged to be forgotten. Being intoxicated called his name. His body turned towards the kitchen, but didn't move.

Cody grabbed onto TK's arm, seeing where his DNA partner's eyes were looking. Despite never being at a party like this, he knew why TK was looking towards that particular room. "TK, no," he firmly reprimanded. He felt bad, like he was downgrading his older friend by talking to him like he was a little kid, but Cody knew that's the first thing he had to try to pull TK from that headspace.

The blonde shook his head of the thoughts. His mind raced with the advice given to him by the specialists in the rehab center. He knew alcohol was not the answer to this problem. Being sober was the best thing for him at that time, to think clearly about the bad feeling the situation gave him.

TK bit his lip and grabbed onto Cody's shirt. "Something's wrong and I know it," he mumbled as he turned away from the kitchen and walked toward the exit of the apartment.

Cody didn't respond. He knew there was nothing he could say to throw off TK's instinct on Kari. Despite being his DNA partner, Cody knew he never had the connection to the Crest of Hope like the Crest of Light did. Ever since Azulongmon had told them the powers of the two crests combined years before, the group had resolved that the two would always be closer than any of the others could hope to be with them.

But still, it made Cody think about the situation, too. Despite her partying days with TK, Kari normally didn't hide much from the group. That fact that she didn't even tell TK made the situation even worse.

But there had to be a rational reason why. Cody let himself be dragged by TK back to their apartment complex, listening to TK's distraught mumbles about their friend. The Crest of Knowledge knew that whatever was going through his friend's mind wasn't clear. "TK, wait," Cody stopped him.

TK turned around with an eyebrow raised, trying to act more calm than he felt. "Yeah, what's up?"

Cody bit the inside of his cheek. He didn't want to be the one to potentially bear bad news, but he knew he had to be the sensible one of the two. "There's probably a very reasonable explanation as to why she didn't tell you. Think logically."

TK shook his head, knowing that Cody would be rational about the situation. While he was never one to stifle logistics, something about this omission held a bad feeling in his stomach that hadn't gone away since his former teammates told him about her decision to leave. Instead of voicing his doubts, he waited for Cody's explanation.

When TK didn't verbally respond, Cody continued, "You can't deny you have a lot to worry about yourself. You were just released from rehab for an alcohol addiction a week ago at the age of seventeen. That means that you were still there when she left." Cody shrugged, knowing that anything he said wouldn't convince his partner fully. "She probably didn't want to bother you with something that seemed so trivial."

TK sighed, knowing that Cody's hypothesis held some merit. He knew Kari wanted to help him in any way possible. But something about their last interaction in the hospital had TK questioning what was really going on. He wasn't there to see their last day together and couldn't put that information in with his theory.

Perhaps Cody was right and she didn't want to bother him with a trivial matter compared to his problems, but it didn't make sense to TK why she would keep it a secret from him or the rest of the DigiDestined, assuming that everyone else was just as clueless about the situation as Matt, Cody and TK had been.

He smiled, thanking Cody for his analysis. He knew he would have to do something about his gut instinct on his best friend eventually. Maybe Matt could help him find a time to talk with Tai. As her brother, he probably knew why Kari hadn't bothered to inform her best friend about her decision to be gone for half a year without notice.

But that would have to wait. First, TK had a documentary to watch on American political scandals.

* * *

 **AN: I'm sorry this is so late! I didn't have internet access for over a week. But now I'm at a conference where I'm sneaking some time to upload this. Also, the third chapter was taking too long, so I cut it in two, so look forward to two long chapters! I'll try not to keep you waiting for that.**


	3. Find Out How You Are

" _Gone now I keep my distance  
But still show persistence in trying to find out how you are"_

 _How You Are-The Story So Far_

* * *

"You're right; that doesn't make sense," Matt conceded, shaking his head.

TK sat down across from him, folding his arms on the table. "You're telling me," he mumbled. He looked across to his brother, watching his reaction to the younger Kamiya's sudden disappearance. After his Friday night of watching documentaries with the youngest DigiDestined, TK had to get to the bottom of what was really going on with Kari. If anyone could help him, it would be his older brother.

Matt sighed, leaning back in his chair. TK's story from the night before had the older brother worried, not about Kari, but TK's wellbeing. Being woken up at seven in the morning by his little brother wasn't a good sign in his eyes. He looked over at TK, noticing his eyes kept darting back and forth from the table to his overnight bag to his cell phone.

"TK, calm down," Matt suggested, seeing the anxiety in his brother's gaze. It worried him. "Have you taken your medication?"

TK sighed and rolled his eyes. "No," he answered, leaning down for the outer pocket of his bag. The scrape of Matt's chair against the floor rang through the kitchen as the older brother grabbed a cup from the cupboard. TK looked up, holding the bottle in his hand. "You know my medicine isn't the reason I'm anxious, right? I'm pretty consistent with this."

Matt nodded, keeping a firm look on his face as he filled the cup with some water. "I know you are, but you can't let this Kari business make you forget."

Matt walked over and set the cup down in front of his brother, receiving a nod in thanks. TK opened the bottle and popped out his morning pill. He quickly knocked it back in his mouth, chasing it with the water Matt gave him. He let out a quick gasp as he finished. "Thanks, Matt," he said, handing his brother the cup back.

Matt smirked and took back the cup. "How many are you on now?"

"Just two," the younger blonde answered as he put the bottle back. "One in the morning and one at night."

Matt didn't ask any further questions, knowing how the number of pills TK had to take had decreased since the incident. It still held an uneasy feeling in his stomach that his brother needed medication to feel normal, when Matt had been there for everything that made TK feel abnormal.

He couldn't get too far into his thoughts on that topic. TK pulled Matt out of his head, continuing on with his beginning topic. "There has to be something I can do. Kari wouldn't just leave without telling me. Something's wrong with her."

As much as Matt wanted to sympathize with his brother, he had a hard time believing that this situation was any worse than an awkward confrontation being avoided on the girl's part. After hearing what TK had said on Cody's explanation, he had to agree with the other boy. His brother could possibly be overreacting.

But knowing TK, Matt knew he wasn't going to stop until he had a solution to the problem. Matt sighed and leaned back in his chair again. "Well, what are you thinking about doing?" Matt asked, hoping to get some insight into how far his brother would go to answer his question. "Keep in mind that you have school to think about now as well, and you technically aren't supposed to leave the city without a legal guardian."

TK cringed, remembering the terms of his release from rehab. Being underage held a lot of different processes for his rehabilitation back into home life, including a boundary limit for the first few months of his recovery. "Okay, but it's not like if I leave, I can be arrested for it," TK protested.

Matt pursed his lips, knowing where TK was going with this. "You're not going to go to her study abroad location," Matt commanded. He knew he had to help his parents and put his foot down on that idea.

TK rolled his eyes. "I didn't mean that that was my plan," he groaned, folding his arms in front of him. "I just meant that if push comes to shove, then I can't get in any legal trouble for leaving the city."

Matt glared back at his brother. He knew he would have to be make some final decisions on his brother's behalf like he had done in the Digital World, but he hated being the antagonist in the situation. "Then what do you have in mind?"

"Tai has to know," TK suggested, perking up from his defensive state. "Why don't we ask him?"

Matt looked away, the firm look on his face still standing. "I haven't talked to Tai in weeks. I don't know if he would be up for seeing us."

"But we have to try!" TK exclaimed, reclaiming his older brother's attention. TK calmed down, knowing that yelling would not convince his brother to help him. "Look, I know I must sound insane, but I can't shake the feeling that something is wrong. I mean, something is obviously wrong between us if she won't talk to me." He picked up his phone, holding it up like it was evidence. "If I can just figure out why she doesn't seem to want to talking to me anymore, then I'll move on."

Matt pursed his lips again, biting the inside of his cheek. TK was right; he did sound insane, but Matt couldn't sit by and let his brother continue to worry. If a simple talk about what's going on could help him, then it's the least the older brother could do.

It still didn't sit well with him, though. As much as he had himself convinced that his brother was overreacting, something felt different this time. In fact, Matt found himself to be a little curious on the situation as well, remembering how distant Kari seeming during her last interaction with TK.

Matt sighed and reached for his cell phone on the counter. "I'll see what I can do."

* * *

It hadn't been but two hours since Matt was able to get ahold of Tai. When he brought up his little sister, Tai had sounded nervous. Matt knew that the brunet leader of their group knew more than he was willing to admit. But thankfully, Tai agreed to meet with the brothers that day instead of dropping the subject like Matt would have.

TK walked down the street following Matt as they weaved in and out of the people browsing the shops along the road. He watched as Matt calmly led the two with his hands in his pockets, a different image than the younger boy showed. As much as he wanted to believe what everyone was saying and shake it off as paranoia, TK had a bad feeling about everything. He couldn't act cool about this situation without a drink in him.

TK stopped in the middle of the sidewalk. He shook his head of the thought, realizing what he had just said to himself. Looking up from his feet stuck to the sidewalk, he saw the back of Matt's head continue to float away. His eyebrows furrowed, confused as to why his brain still jumped to alcohol as a coping mechanism when he only had the option to relapse for a week.

That thought had to save itself as Matt continued to move on, leaving his brother behind. TK quickly caught up, remembering what he was out that day to do. It had been a weird eighteen hours since he had heard about Kari's trip. This was not what he had planned to do with his first weekend back.

Matt hadn't notice his brother's halt and continued walking to his destination. His mind kept a list of things he needed to do after meeting with Tai, including stop for groceries and guitar strings. Matt's plans hadn't included a spontaneous coffee run with his estranged best friend, but he knew that his brother's peace of mind would be a worth a little delay in his arrangements for the day.

The sign of the coffee shop Tai asked to meet at popped into Matt's line of vision. He turned around, catching similar golden locks running down the sidewalk to catch up to him. "Come on; we're here," Matt said, pointing towards the door.

TK caught up, leading Matt to the door of the shop. "Sorry about that," TK apologized, opening the door for his brother. "Caught myself daydreaming again."

Matt rolled his eyes, not buying his brother's story for a minute. But now wasn't the situation to question that. There were bigger issues to deal with.

The familiar bushy brown hair caught the older boy's attention first. Tai sat in the front corner of the shop, nodding his head solemnly at the brothers as he held a white cup in his hands. Matt returned the nod, pulling some money from his pocket and handing it to TK. "Large coffee, no cream, no sugar. Get yourself something decaffeinated."

TK wanted to argue, knowing that his brother was following the diet his mother had him on, but stopped himself. It wasn't the time to discuss that issue. Instead, TK thanked his brother and walked over to the counter.

The older brother made his way to his friend's table and sat down across from him. He sat stiff, watching the older Kamiya hesitant to make a friendly gesture. The two sat in awkward silence, unsure what to say in that moment. It was a sudden meeting, with their most recent gatherings being very distant.

Matt spoke first, not wanting to waste any of his nor Tai's time. "Sorry to bother you on a Saturday. TK won't stop thinking about this until he gets answers." He looked out the front window of the shop, brooding on the topic of their meeting. "Cody and I both think he might be overreacting, but I know the last thing he needs during this time is to worry about her if there's no reason to worry."

Tai nodded, even though Matt wasn't looking at him. He picked up his mug and took a sip of his coffee. "I understand," he responded. Tai could see passed his best friend's look of indifference on the topic. Since his little brother entered rehab, Tai could tell that Matt's interest in his brother's well-being had skyrocketed since their adventures in the Digital World. He couldn't blame the older blonde for it, for that was one of the reasons he had agreed to meet on such short notice.

Matt continued, waving his hand in the air. "If you could just tell him he has nothing to worry about and that Kari's fine, it would be a big help for his recovery." He finally returned his gaze back to the Crest of Courage, his face questioning. "Although it is a little weird that they haven't had any communication in two months," he interrogated.

Tai slowly nodded, biting his cheek. "Yeah, totally weird," he agreed. Something about his friend's response threw off the Crest of Friendship, but before he could question any further, TK came back with their drinks and the change.

Tai's face lit up with a fake smile. "Hey, TK. Long time, no see," he greeted. "How are you doing, starting back school and all?"

TK smiled back, holding his hot chocolate in his hand. "Nice to see you, too, Tai. School's been okay, but I didn't expect much else." The younger boy shrugged, knowing that the general questions weren't the topic on all three of their minds, and required no elaborate answers. "Thanks for meeting us this quickly, by the way."

"It's no problem," Tai nodded, the smile fading on his face. He looked down at his mug and lowered his voice. "I was actually wondering how long it would take you guys to ask me."

Matt furrowed his eyebrows at his best friend. The tone used was a rare one, but not unheard before. The grave seriousness in his voice made the brothers uneasy. Somehow Matt knew Tai wasn't just going to give TK some reassurance and be on his way.

TK took a drink before setting the cup down. He gave Tai a serious look back, knowing that his intuition might have been right. "Ask you about what?"

"Ask me about Kari," Tai responded. He leaned back in his chair and groaned. "This is so stupid, actually. She should have just told you guys before she left."

TK scooted up to the edge of his seat. He had been right; something was wrong with Kari. He had to know what. "Told us what?"

Tai sighed, leaning forward on the table again. "I promised her I wouldn't tell anyone, so I'm not at liberty to say," he explained. The older Kamiya placed his elbow on the table and pointed back and forth towards the brothers. " _However_ , I do believe what she's doing is wrong, and you, as her best friend, deserve to know the truth."

Neither of the brothers spoke. Matt knew he wasn't going to get his errands done that day.

Tai continued, folding his arms on the table. "She lied to her team; she didn't want them to know. She's not really studying abroad," Tai confessed. His thumb stuck out, point behind him. "She's about a three-hour drive west of here, at our grandmother's house.

TK bit the inside of his cheek, thinking about this new information. It made no sense to him as to why Kari would up and leave their senior year, without even saying goodbye or telling her friends where she was actually going. It didn't seem like something his best friend would do, and he figured he knew her pretty well for being her friend for almost a decade. The suspicion levels rose in the teenager with every second that passed.

Matt sat silently and watched his brother take in this news. He could see the gears shift in this brother's head, looking for any reason that this could have happened. To be honest, Matt would be lying if he said he wasn't curious either.

Tai interrupted their thoughts. "I can't just sit around and keep quiet for her. I know this may be sudden, but I'm willing to take you guys to my grandmother's to talk with her," Tai proposed, dangling a pair of car key in front of them.

Matt raised in eyebrow at his friend's idea. "But if you brought us to her, wouldn't you be aiding in telling us?"

Tai shrugged, a sad smirk appearing on his face. "If I bring you to her, she would have to tell you. Therefore, I didn't tell you."

Matt had to roll his eyes at his friend's logic. He crossed his arms and leaned back, not actually wanting to go through with the plan. He understood secrets between siblings, thinking back to months before where Matt held TK's drinking problem a secret from everyone. But a sudden road trip seemed a big extreme to him.

"Okay, when are we leaving?" TK's determined voice broke Matt's thoughts.

Matt looked over at his brother cautiously. "Didn't we talk about this early?" he reminded, thinking back to recent conversations back at his apartment about what plans TK may have had.

TK looked over at Matt with balled-up fists. "But that was before I knew for a fact that something was wrong," TK rebutted.

"But you can't leave the city -"

"Without a legal guardian," TK interrupted, knowing the speech. But instead of a frustrated look, the younger blonde simply smirked at his brother. "Something Mom made you since my accident."

Matt cringed, remembering his legal status. "You knew that?" he asked. The day after TK was sent to rehab, his mother asked if she could list Matt as a legal guardian, just in case she couldn't be reached for any matter. It had been a first step in regaining the trust between both of them. But Matt hadn't figured his mother told his younger brother about it.

TK folded his arms, triumphantly smirking at his victory over his brother. "Mom told me before school started. But never mind that. This means that I _have_ a legal guardian to come outside of the city with me, meaning I _can_ go."

Matt cringed again, groaning into his look. He really wasn't up for a three-hour road trip, no matter how it would make TK feel. He knew his brother needed some closure with his best friend, but he couldn't image anything was bad enough that they would actually have to leave the city.

Matt eyed Tai, asking him in a tone that signified that he already knew the answer. "Do we really have to? You can't tell us even a little bit."

Tai empathized with his friend. He wasn't looking forward to the trip either, but he knew it was for the best. "It would be best if she told you herself instead of me."

The younger boy missed the interaction, opting to think of reasons why Tai couldn't tell them about Kari. Despite other possibilities, he couldn't take his mind off of one topic. TK knew how bad she was about partying, remembering how she was with him most nights. He couldn't help but wonder if this was her rehab.

TK took a drink of his hot chocolate, holding it in his hands. His head nodded towards the door. "Well, are we leaving or what?"

* * *

 **AN: I wanted to include the trip in this chapter, but this chapter reached ten pages by itself, so I knew to cut it short. I leave for college on Thursday, so the updates will become slower. However, since I'm leaving you on a cliffhanger, I'll try to upload the next chapter soon. I have it started, but I'm not even halfway through it. I just got a cold out of nowhere, so I'll have plenty of time to write it. I'm very excited for you to read what happens next! Thank you for all who have favorited and reviewed so far. It means so much to me.**


	4. You Needed Me

" _Tryna fix your inner issues with a bad bitch.  
Didn't they tell you that I was a savage?  
Fuck your white horse and a carriage."_

 _Needed Me-Rihanna_

* * *

The green of the trees passed by Matt's window as he watched from the passenger seat of Tai's car. The trip was indeed beautiful, even if it was on less than pretty circumstances. Waking up that morning, Matt hadn't expected to be three hours from his apartment on an impromptu road trip with his brother and best friend.

But now he was sitting in the passenger seat of Tai's car, about a half hour outside of Hamamatsu, their destination. Matt sighed, turning his head around to the back seat. TK was curled up in the back, passed out against the window. A same dribble of drool fell from the corner of his mouth, causing a humored smile to come to Matt's face.

"He's passed out," Matt quietly laughed, facing forward again. "The kid could never stay awake during a long car ride."

Tai snorted. "I wish Kari were like that," he whispered, looking up in the rearview to see what Matt had found funny. "She can't sleep in a car, no matter how tired she is."

A smirked formed on Matt's face as he lifted a hand to block out the afternoon sun hitting his eyes. "One time when we were younger, visiting our grandparents in France, we took a sight-seeing drive into the countryside. Turns out TK was asleep for the whole two-hour trip."

Tai reached down in his side door, pulling out an extra pair of sunglasses. Handing them over to Matt, he laughed, "One time on a trip across the country, Kari stayed up the full ride with my dad as he drove through the night. She was up for twenty-eight hours with him. Once we got to the hotel, she was asleep before her head even hit the pillow, just because it wasn't the car."

Matt thanked Tai for the sunglasses and put them on quickly. He pointed a thumb to the back seat. "That reminds me of the time TK came back from his first sleepover and told me he hadn't sleep the whole night because he didn't have his stuffed elephant and couldn't sleep without it."

"Oh, Kari had a stuffed bunny that she refused to go anywhere without," Tai remembered, checking his side mirrors before merging into the exit lane. "One time I hide it from her and she freaked out. Wouldn't stop crying until our mom made me show her where I put it."

"You're cruel," Matt scoffed playfully.

The older brothers silently laughed at the memories of their younger siblings. It felt good to reminisce on the fun times that they had when they were surrounded by what seemed to be one bad moment after another. The mood between the two in the front seat grew somber as both remembered where they were currently.

Tai sighed loudly, catching Matt's attention. "How did they get like this?" he asked into his sigh, his tone of sadness tinging his words.

Matt shook his head, turning around to look at his sleeping brother. "I don't know," he admitted. "I'm his older brother. I tried my hardest to protect him, even when we only saw each other a few times a year."

"At least you knew beforehand," Tai mentioned, looking both ways before he pulled out onto the road from the highway. "I was caught off-guard. I didn't know Kari was partying until that day with TK."

Matt cringed, turning back around to watch the road Tai was heading on. "He was heavily drinking to self-medicate an undiagnosed post-traumatic stress disorder."

"She was heavily drinking for the hell of it," Tai sighed, his face as straight as it could be.

"I never thought I'd have to drop my seventeen-year-old brother off at rehab."

"I never thought Kari would…" Tai abruptly cut himself off.

Matt turned over to his best friend, wondering what Tai was going to say before he stopped himself. He knew he shouldn't have thought about it; it had to do with what they were doing in the car. Why Tai couldn't just tell him instead of driving hours out of the way was unknown still.

"Why couldn't you just tell us?" Matt asked again, shaking his head.

Tai gripped the steering wheel tightly, staring intently at the road. He gulped. "A part of them growing up is admitting to their own mistakes," he finally spoke, still watching the road with a serious gaze instead of the ease of before their conversation. "Besides, I've told you already, you guys deserve to hear it from her own mouth."

Matt exhaled, crossing his arms over his chest as she slunk down in his chair again. He had heard Tai say that statement time and time again that day, but it didn't give an answer that the older blonde wanted.

Before Matt could challenge him any further, a rustle came from the back seat. "Hey, where are we now?" TK yawned.

Tai's serious face he had during his conversation with Matt melted away as he checked the local landmarks for his answer. "We're about fifteen minutes out."

"Looks like I woke up at a good time," TK joked, smiling at Matt, who turned around to face his brother. TK stretched his arms up as far as he could without hitting the ceiling. Another yawn escaped his lips as he rubbed his eyes.

Matt's smile fell to a smirk as he watched his brother's sleepy actions. The innocence of what his brother did made the reality of their situation even worse. Matt's mind slipped back to the conversation he had just concluded: the alcoholic teenager yawning in the backseat was his baby brother. It was still a weird thought, no matter how many times Matt was reminded of TK's situation.

The rest of the car ride was silent after Matt turned back around to watch the road. Tai pulled off onto a perpendicular street, overshadowed by tree branches casting down onto the road. The vibe was a bit ominous, but not as off-putting as the brother had expected it to be.

As a house came into view, TK's stomach did flips. Without having to ask, he knew he was close to his best friend. His mind, however, didn't share the excitement of his body. The words asking to turn around were on the tip of his tongue. TK had no idea why he was nervous. Perhaps, he thought, that if Kari didn't want to tell him, he shouldn't be chasing after her.

Before he could get out a word, the car came to a jolting stop. TK looked around, noticing they were parked in a driveway. The sound of Tai's seatbelt unclicking from the holder grabbed his attention.

"Well, here we are," Tai sighed, smiling into his phrase. The tone of uncertainty wasn't missed by either of the brothers.

Cautiously, TK stepped out of the car, checking out the wooded surroundings around him. He looked down the long driveway, not remembering how the car made it up the windy path. The road cracked and filled with potholes, something TK thought he would have noticed coming up.

Matt reached out and grabbed his shoulder, pulling him forwards to follow Tai. Matt could see the open expression on his brother's face. He knew TK was nervous to see Kari, for whatever reason she was hiding. The seclusion of the woods didn't help either.

The brother followed Tai up the front porch steps. They stood a few paces behind him as he knocked on the door and waited to be answered.

The door swung open, revealing a small older woman with greying hair and narrow eyes through her glasses. TK noticed her eyes widened at the sight of three men on her porch. Once he noticed the one who knocked was her grandson, her face went stoic.

"Taichi, what is the meaning of this?" his grandmother scolded, causing a warm embarrassed feeling to boil in the brothers' stomachs.

Tai's cheeks burned as he awkwardly ran his fingers through his hair. "Uh, Grandma, this is Matt and TK," he introduced, waving his hand behind him towards his friend. Matt nodded and TK gave a weak wave, still uncomfortable about the whole situation.

His grandma returned the nod before turning her attention back to her grandson. In a low whisper, but not low enough that the brothers couldn't eavesdrop, she whispered, "Why did you bring them here? Your sister made it perfectly clear that she didn't want to see anyone from home."

Tai's embarrassed face washed away, becoming very serious with this family member. "I know she said that. I didn't tell them." He paused, turning back around to his friends, who were staring awkwardly at the conversation. "They deserve to know."

The older woman gave the three men a skeptical look. "Why?" she asked suspiciously, eyeing the blonde men up and down.

"They just do," Tai quickly answered, bending his head slightly to look passed her into the house. "They _deserve_ to know."

The grandmother's eyes widened in a shocked expression as her gaze stayed fixed on the two men she wasn't related to. "Your sister's not going to be happy," she said, still looking away from her grandson.

Tai sighed, relieved that she didn't seem to putting up much of a fight. "I know she won't, but you and I both agree that this is for the best, no?"

TK starred back at the grandmother confused and nervous. He felt like he was being watched before an interview, like she was going to start asking him and Matt questions at any given moment. The shock on her face made the situation even more uncomfortable. He hadn't felt this awkward about something in a while. But when he remembered that the old way he coped with being uncomfortable was chugging a six-pack, he shook his head and gave her a weak smile instead.

The small shake didn't go unnoticed. The shocked look was paired with confused eyes at the action. She, however, saw to ignore it. Shaking her own head, she hobbled out of the way of the door, holding out her arm to usher them in. "You might as well come in and make yourselves comfortable," she relented, her expression changing to one of defeat.

Tai nodded, and waved for Matt and TK to follow him in to the house. TK's eyes darted around the room, eying the family pictures hung on the wall. He caught a glimpse of one that looked like Tai and Kari when they were a lot younger. A smile crept on his face before he turned his attention back to the other people in the room.

Tai's grandmother led the men into the kitchen. She walked over to the countertop and pulled out four mugs from the overhead cabinet. "Tea, boys?" she asked, going ahead and filling the mugs anyway.

Tai sat down at the table, causing two brothers to follow suit. They stayed quiet as the older woman poured the tea from the kettle resting on the stove. "There's something we need to talk about before I tell Kari you guys are here," she informed, finishing filling up the last mug.

TK could feel his cheeks get warm as he thanked her for the mug she sat down in front of him. He watched as Tai's grandmother slowly sat down in her seat, making sure she took the one directly across from TK. The room was quiet as the men sipped anxiously at their drinks. TK wasn't much for tea, but knew better than the refuse the offer.

The older woman sighed as she finished her first sip. Her hands gripped tightly around the mug and her eyes stayed fixed on the table. "Situations like these do not come easily," she began, the regret filling her tone. "No one really knows what is the right choice to do, and no one can make that choice for you." Her eyes darted up to the younger brother, giving him an understanding look behind narrow eyes. "You understand that, right?"

TK held back a gulp, unsure if she knew about where he was all summer. He thought perhaps Kari had told her about his situation, maybe a segue into her own issue. Instead of voicing his concerns, TK simply nodded and took another drink of his tea.

The elder's eyes returned back to her mug she was rocking back and forth, watching the tea sway from side to side. "What we need the both of you to understand is that Kari had taken this to heart. Her decision to come here and get away from home was her own choice."

TK's heart was pounding out of his chest. He turned towards Matt, who replied with an equally as confused face as his little brother. TK was nervous for the vagueness of the topic. If something was wrong with Kari, he was tired of beating around the bush.

"I think the best thing to do," the grandmother pulled him from his thoughts, "is for you to go directly to her. If I tell her you guys are here, then she may try to run away."

TK's eyebrows furrowed. He didn't understand how something could be this serious for Kari to actually flee if he showed up.

Matt spoke for his brother. "Okay, if that's what you think is best," he agreed, looking over at Tai for approval. Tai knew what Kari was hiding, and if Tai would agree to the plan, then he could trust that it would be okay.

Tai looked down at his tea, swirling the cup around to watch the liquid circle. "I think TK should go up by himself," he finally spoke, setting his mug on the table. "Not anything against you, Matt, but he is her best friend. If we all ambush her, then she might feel overpowered."

TK's face became even hotter at the suggestion. His eyes darted over towards his brother, who gave a hard nod to accompany his stoic face. "Sounds fine to me," he said, turning to face his brother.

Thinking over the situation, the younger brother was stunned by how much planning was involved in getting to see his best friend. He knew that it shouldn't have been this hard to find out of Kari was okay. In that moment, he was frustrated with the whole ordeal and didn't want to move from his seat. The mug was pressed up against his lips again, tilted slightly back to allow the drink to enter his mouth. Drinking his tea made it so he didn't show his frustration.

Unfortunately, despite what she had said earlier about choices, the elder woman made the decision for him. She pointed to the other entryway of the house towards a set of stairs. "Up the stairs, second door on your left," she informed.

TK looked over at his brother, his eyes pleading for help. He was even more confused about the whole situation, his frustration from second before washed away. He needed Matt to help him. But Matt remained unmoved. Silently, he showed his brother that Tai's grandmother was right, that TK needed to do things for himself. Matt knew that he could only help him so much.

The younger blonde exhaled loudly and got up from his seat, walking in the direction the older woman pointed him in. His feet hit the first step of the staircase and his eyes darted back and forth from the pictures on the walls. Black and white footages yellowing from age mixed with newer pictures that glossed in the indoor light.

TK stopped at a family picture of the four Kamiya's. It was recent. He remembered Kari talking about this particular photoshoot, how she was excited for it the night they went out, and how she dreaded it the next morning hungover in his room. He remembered how the early alarm Kari had set the night before woke them up far before the alcohol and the embarrassment of their drunk hookup had worn out of their systems. He remembered how he had to quickly sneak his best friend out of his apartment around his mother, who was getting ready for work that morning.

Looking closely at the photo, he could barely tell that she was hungover at all, although she had texted him the whole time saying how hungover she actually was. She had even thrown up in the photographer's bathroom. Something did catch his eye as he narrowed his vision closer on his friend's image. A part of her neck looked visibly whiter than the rest of his skin. TK smirked, laughing at the mistake she had made. Knowing Kari better than most, he found it funny that her attempt to cover a hickey was so obvious.

He missed her. Remembering the events of an awful night of partying made TK realize how much he truly missed her. He was worried, of course, but he also couldn't deny how much he wanted her by his side, to help him during his integration back home and through their senior year. The stories were fine to commemorate their friendship, but with his head turned back up the stairs, he knew that there were more than stories in this house. Kari was there, and they still had so many stories left to be written.

Ignoring the rest of the pictures along the walk, TK continued his ascent up the stairs, repeating the instructions to himself. "Second door on the left," he whispered to himself as he reached the top and walked along the short hallway. The second door on the left was visibly before he even finished the stairs.

Standing outside of the door, TK reached a hand up, poised to knock, but something held him back. The determined nature to find out what was wrong was overshadowed by the hesitation of Kari's decision. If she had decided not to tell him what was wrong, then what right did he have to pry and find out for himself? He questioned if he was breaking a code of trust in their friendship.

TK shook his head of the thought. The code of trust in their friendship seemed to be thin if Kari couldn't tell TK was what wrong. He put his hand down and turned around, about to walk back down the steps and out of the house. His feet, however, wouldn't move. Despite the frustration that arose again, he couldn't seem to leave.

He turned his body back around to the door. He knew this anxious feeling was something he would have to overcome. He was psyching himself out before he had even confronted her. There was no reason for him to be nervous to talk to his best friend.

Throwing his body into autopilot, TK knocked on the door. His eyes flung open, realizing what he had had just done. His mind went into shock at his body's decision. Immediately turning himself around to run down the stairs before anything happened, a voice coming from the other side of the door stopped him.

"Come in," it said, groggy as if the person had just woken up.

TK knew that post-sleep voice anywhere, thinking back to the all of the mornings he had heard it. It was Kari, though he had no doubt that she was in the room. His body remained motionless in front of the door, as if he expected it to fling open and his best friend throw her arms around him in a loving embrace. But she had told him to come in, so TK didn't know why he wasn't move.

"You can come in," Kari called again, irritation tinting her voice.

Cautiously, TK grabbed the doorknob and twisted it, slowly opening the door to inspect the surroundings first. The bed was positioned in the corner of the window-side wall facing the door, meaning the first thing TK saw when opening the door was Kari underneath some blankets. Her body was turned towards the wall and away from TK. He thought about turning around again, but if he couldn't leave when he heard her, he definitely couldn't leave now that he had seen her.

"Hey, sleepyhead," he whispered, trying to put on his best smile. He knew that she didn't want to see him, so he had to play it cool.

Kari turned herself over in her bed and immediately sat up. She held a blanket up to her neck as she stared at her visitor with a shocked expression. He wasn't supposed to be there, she thought. She never wanted him to be there.

As much as she wanted to be angry and yell at him for coming to find her, her throat wouldn't produce the tone. Instead what came out was a raspy gasp. "What are you doing here?"

TK stood in the doorway, not knowing if he should walk further into the room. "I was worried," he admitted, playing with his fingers in a nervous habit. "The guys told me you had left to study abroad, but I didn't believe it for a second."

The shocked look hadn't worn off. Kari had never expected TK to track her down. She hadn't even known that he was out of rehab. Her plan was crumbling out from underneath her. She felt her heart beating faster as the anxiety within her built.

Kari shook her head. "No, you can't be here," she whispered, looking around the room for any staring point but TK. "You need to leave, right now."

TK cringed at how quickly she pushed him away. It was obvious that she was hiding something from him, and that upset the blonde boy. In their decade of friendship, they hadn't hidden anything from each other. Now that he had tripped over himself, he thought, she suddenly couldn't trust him?

Finally, his body not being able to move did him a favor. TK stayed put in the doorway, giving his best friend a fixed stare. "I don't know what's going on, but it's kind of disheartening when you get out of the hardest time of your life and your best friend is nowhere to be found," he began, narrowing his eyes at her. He took a step forward, throwing his hands down by his side. "And what's worse is that I had to learn that you weren't here from some drunk guys at a party."

Kari's eyes narrowed back at him. "You were at a party? With drunk people?"

"This isn't about me right now," he countered, realizing she was trying to flip the situation. "I'm not going anywhere until you tell me what's so wrong that your brother drove me and Matt three hours out here to talk to you ourselves."

Kari remained silent as her angry look didn't fade. TK tried to hold his own gaze, but found himself faltering when he noticed he eyes began to redden. Kari curling herself up, holding onto her knees. She started to shake, holding back tears. "Our brothers are here, too?" she asked through a cracking voice.

TK's stare softened a bit, but still remained hard. "Yeah, Tai told us I needed to hear from you and Matt needed to come with us so my mother doesn't worry more than she already does." Despite having not talked to her in months, something felt right about admitting to Kari that his mother is more concerned with his wellbeing than usual, something he didn't feel great about discussing as he was on the horizon of independence.

Kari's eyes darted away, staring at a stuffed animal leaning against the wall on her bed. She couldn't look at him if she didn't want to cry. The stress from both of their situations was more than she could handle, though she never wanted to admit that.

"Just don't worry about it, okay?" she finally spoke, leaning her head to rest on her knees. "We both have to become independent sometime. You have to worry about your recovery more than me."

"But part of my recovery is worrying about you," TK quickly blurted out, catching her attention. He waited until he locked eyes with his best friend before continuing. "Part of integrating back home is being with the ones I care about the most. I can't do that without worrying about my best friend when she won't even talk to me."

Despite how endearing her best friend's statement was, Kari's face turned hard. "Don't you get it, TK? I made all of those mistakes with you. None of this would have ever happened if I wasn't with you."

"What are you even talking about?" TK exclaimed, throwing his hands up in the air. "I thought we had discussed that nothing that happened to me was your fault."

Kari's cheeks burned bright red as she felt a hot tear roll down her cheek. "It not all about you," she snapped, pursing her lips back together for a moment. "I was affected, too. I had to watch my best friend almost die in front of me because of decisions that we made together. Don't you think it hurt me, too?"

TK gulped, taking in what she had confessed to him. Maybe it was the time that had passed between the two, but something in what she said told him that she wasn't being completely truthful.

"You wouldn't come all the way out here just because you were stressed out about me," he said calmly, watching as she wiped at her cheek angrily. "The Kari I know would have waited and been there for me, so we could get through whatever we're going through together. That's what best friends do."

"That's not us anymore," Kari replied, biting her bottom lip. "The kind of best friends you're talking about don't get drunk and hook up any chance they can get."

TK winced at her words, remembering that what she said was the definition of their friendship for a while.

"Somewhere along the way, we turned more into fuck buddies than best friends," she admitted, the anger seething from every word. "And that's not what I need right now."

"That's not what either of us needs right now," TK rebutted, taking a step towards her bed.

"Don't come closer," Kari demanded, holding her hand up to stop him. "You saw what you needed to see. I'll be fine. I've got this worked out."

Through their arguing, neither had noticed their brothers had run up the stairs, alarmed by their yelling. As Tai was about to run into the room, Matt pulled him by the collar and held him outside. Tai turned around angrily to see why his friend had stopped him, only to be greeted by a finger pressed against his lip.

TK stopped in his tracks and stared at the girl sitting up in her bed. The determined tone in her voice showed a different picture than the worried look she gave him. He knew she wasn't fine, no matter what she currently said. Now wasn't the time to argue back with her.

Ever since they had begun partying together, TK noticed a side of Kari that became more independent and adventurous than she had ever been. She became more in control of herself when she was drunk than when she was sober. It was a change TK had subtlety noticed through their days together, but the stubborn nature of this change made itself shine in that moment.

TK smirked at Kari, putting his hands awkwardly in his pockets. "You never could lie to me," he whispered, grabbing her attention with his inviting tone. "You said that you'll be fine. Does that mean that you aren't fine now?"

Kari didn't reply. She turned to him with a hurt look, wanting nothing more than for him to be gone so she can take care of herself. Her eyes tried to bore glares at her friend as he stood in the middle of her room.

TK's smirk fell as he saw the reaction he got. "Look, I can't make you say anything," he began, not taking his eyes off of her. "But I want you to know that I'm here. You were a big part of getting me help when I needed it. You helped save my life that night, and I'm forever thankful that you were there."

He shrugged, trying to seem causal so maybe she would be more relax to tell him. Really though, he wanted nothing more than to force it out of her. But he knew how to play his best friend, and a relaxed tone would get him where he needed to go.

"I just want to repay the favor. If there's something wrong and you need help, I want you to know that you'll always have me."

Kari stared for a few silent seconds. As much as she wanted him to turn around and leave, she knew TK wouldn't go down without a fight. Their friendship had been through more peril and turns than anyone would have guessed. She looked back briefly on their adventures to the Digital World, and how they always promised to protect each other. Despite the goal she had set for herself, TK made it hard for her to not give in.

"I've already made up my mind that I don't want you involved," Kari said, staring at her wall. "I'm not something you need to be worried about. Go home and finish up the semester."

TK bit the inside of his cheek. She wasn't going to budge, but he knew that something was eating her alive. By the way she wouldn't look at him, TK saw that Kari wanted to tell him, but something was stopping her.

"Do you not trust me anymore?"

Kari's stare pulled away from the wall at the question. Her heart ripped as her eyes locked with TK's, seeing the hurt radiating from them. "It's not that, TK," she promised.

TK clenched his hands into a fist, feeling his face grow hot. "Then what is it? Because it really seems like you don't trust me. After all that we've been through, I didn't think you were the person to run away from me."

Kari bit her lip. She knew she made a mistake by looking at him. The water rushed to her eyes as she tried to hold back any words she wanted to say. It was hard to keep quiet as she watched the look of betrayal fall across her best friend's face. "This isn't what I want," she explained. "This isn't what I intended to do at all. I do trust you, but you have to trust me on this."

"Trust you on what, Kari?" TK asked, trying to keep the redness of frustration from flooding his cheeks. "How can I trust you when I don't know what's going on."

Kari exhaled as she felt a second tear roll down her cheek. She didn't want to tell him what was wrong; she had made that perfectly clear. All she had to do to keep from telling him was look away. But she was caught. Never had she seen TK look so hurt about something she had done. Not even the fight they had during his intervention compared to the look she was receiving now. She wanted to turn away. Every fiber of her being was begging her to look the other way. But her best friend had her entranced with guilt.

"I'm sorry," Kari cried, feeling a hard lump form in her throat. "I never wanted this to happen."

The nervous feeling of anxiety bubbled in TK's stomach. His hands felt light and he released them from their fist, unable to keep them there anymore. The redness that filled his cheeks was replaced by the cool sensation of anticipation as he matched his best friend's gaze.

"Never wanted what to happen?" TK asked.

Kari bit her lip, feeling her heart beat quicken as the blood rushed through her system. More tears streamed down her face as she heard the crack in her voice.

"I'm pregnant, TK," Kari confessed.

From outside of the room, Matt's eyes popped open in shock. His body turned around to enter, knowing that TK needed some support with this news. Tai grabbed the back of Matt's shirt and held him back, putting a finger up to his mouth like the blonde man had done to him earlier.

"They need to deal with this themselves," Tai whispered, enough to keep Matt quiet for the time being.

All feeling drained out of TK's body. His heart fell in his stomach and his stomach fell to the floor. The cool sensation that was in his body intensified as the anxious feeling rose within him. The cold stare he was giving her dropped, along with his mouth. TK let out a staggered exhale as he tried to process what he had just heard.

"What?" he asked, not recognizing his own voice. "Y-You're pregnant? And it's–"

"It's yours," Kari interrupted, wiping a tear from her frustrated face. "You were the only person I was with around the estimated conception date."

She leaned back, pulling the drawer on the nightstand open. Holding out a picture to TK, she continued, resentful, "Here's a picture. I'm about sixteen weeks, meaning that it happened at the end of March or the beginning of April."

TK couldn't feel the hand that reached out to grab the picture. Taking it from her was the first time his eyes had taken themselves off of her face. The ultrasound didn't look like much of anything to his untrained eye, but there were two things he knew for sure: he could see the outline of a head on the left side, and Kari's name was written at the top corner. Still, it all seemed unreal to him.

Kari took his moment of silence to continue on. "That's why I haven't talked to you," she admitted, finally able to look away from him and down to the loose string on the blanket that was in her hands. "When I passed out in the lobby the day of your accident, it _was_ because my blood sugar was low since I hadn't eaten. But when they gave me the standard results back, they told me everything was fine with me _and_ the baby."

"That's why you were so weird with me," TK whispered, remembering their last in-person conversation in his hospital room.

"Well, what did you expect me to act like?" she seethed, her face holding back the anger she wanted to let out on him. "I found my best friend and fuck buddy overdosing on alcohol and cocaine the night before. He was about to be sent away to rehab for god-knows how long. And I had just found out that I was pregnant by him, someone that I'm not even in a relationship with, while I was about to be a senior in high school. That doesn't sound like a joyous occasion to me."

"But you could have told me," TK replied, still confused by the whole situation.

Kari rolled her eyes, crossing her arms in front of her chest. "Oh yeah, and give you something more to worry about while you were in _rehab_ , TK. You didn't need to be focusing on this," she pointed down to her stomach, "and you still don't."

"What do you mean, I don't?" TK asked, knowing fully well that he had absolute no idea what to do about anything that was going on.

Shaking her head, Kari jumped out of her bed and walked over to the desk on the other side of the room. TK saw a bump coming from under Kari's shirt. His stomach twisted and turned, now seeing two things that made the whole ordeal seem even more real.

TK was too into his thoughts that he was surprised when Kari shoved a white scrapbook into his chest. "My medical record didn't qualify me for an abortion under country law, so I figured adoption was the next best option."

Her hand opened up the book for TK. "When I went to the adoption agency, they gave me a bunch of scrapbooks to look through, but these two stuck out." Kari's pointed to the picture of the young couple on the first page. "This is Brian and Michelle. Early thirties. Live a little north of home. He's a sports magazine editor and she teaches chemistry at a local high school."

TK's eyes wandered over the pages that Kari was flipping through, looking at this couple's home, family, and daily planned activities. He had to admit they looked like they had everything planned out.

Kari snatched the book away from him and held it up to her chest. "In exchange for my services, they've agreed to pay all medical expenses," she continued, turning back around to the desk.

"Your services?" TK repeated, cringing at the phrasing she was using to talk about a baby. "Kari, this isn't some business structure. This is a child."

Shoving the scrapbook back into the drawer it came from, Kari turned around and held on to the edge of the desk behind her. "I've thought everything under control," she continued, ignoring what he had said. "You don't have to worry about anything."

TK's mind was still racing as it tried to process what he had just learned in the last five minutes. His breath was slow and steady, and his eyes won't leave her stomach. None of this was making sense to him. While he had no idea what to do or say in the moment, something still didn't feel right.

He moved his gaze up to her face. "So that's it?" he asked, trying his best to look angry through his shock. "You tell me you're having my kid and I'm just supposed to not worry?"

"It's not yours to make decisions for," Kari bluntly explained, tightening her grip on the desk. "It's not mine either. It's the adoptive parents'."

"Well, you made a decision for it without me," TK pointed out.

"And what would have changed from that decision?" she crossed asked, crossing her arms over her chest. "Would you have suggested that we, an alcoholic and a high-school party girl, raise this child? Maybe you would have wanted us to get married, despite the fact that we aren't romantically linked at all?"

TK's face tightened listening to her assumptions. "I don't know what I would have done," he quickly interrupted. "I just found out. I haven't had time to process all of this."

"Well, luckily, I have," Kari whispered sadly. "I'm doing what's best for all three of us."

The blonde narrowed his eyes, hurt dripping from his face. It was true that he had no idea what he would have said if Kari had told him before, he felt betrayed that she wouldn't even consider including him in the decision.

"Now, if you don't mind," Kari said, walking back over to her bed. "I'd like for you to leave. I'll keep you updated if you want, but nothing more can come of this."

TK felt his breathe kick up in his throat like he had been punched in the stomach. The thousands of words coming to his mind made no difference when they couldn't pass his lips. He watched Kari sit down on her bed, pulling her blanket up over her shoulders and around her body. He wanted to sit down and talk this out, for the sake of their friendship, at least. But he knew better than to push Kari's limits.

With a curt nod, TK turned around and walked out of the room. Passing Matt and Tai without even noticing them, he walked out of the house and over to Tai's car. He flung opened the back door and got inside, waiting for Tai and Matt to come take him home.

But worse than anything, TK felt a familiar sting of tears come to his eyes. He laughed, remembering how he had been the crybaby of the group a decade ago, back before he told himself he had to be strong for the other kid his age. He knew he should march back into the house and set things straight with the girl who was carrying his child, but he couldn't move.

Instead, he sat in the car and played with his hands, opening maybe that the whole experience was just a nightmare.

* * *

A violent shaking woke the blonde boy up from his nightmare. His heart was racing and his mind couldn't stop picturing the face that had been staring back at him.

"TK," the voice of the person who shook him away said. "TK, it's okay. It's only a dream."

Panting, TK looked at his dark surroundings, remembering where he was. He was at Tai and Kari's grandmother's house, staying the night so Tai can get some sleep before making the three-hour journey home. His eyes met the red lettering of the electric clock, reading 2:13 in the morning.

TK ran his fingers through his hair, running the sweat that had dripped off of his forehead. "Sorry about that," he whispered, trying to get his eyes to focus on the person who woke him up. "I guess I forgot to take my night pill."

"Night pill?" the voice asked, concerned.

TK's eyes widened as he recognized the voice. "Kari?"

"I heard your screaming through the wall," she explained. "I'm surprised Matt didn't come running."

Confused by how friendly the conversation was going compared to the earlier that day, TK hesitated to respond, "Yeah, me too."

Silence filled the room as TK's eyes adjusted to the dark. Kari's outline sat on the edge of the guest bed he was laying in. He sat up, getting on eye level with her. The awkward encounter was the worst they had ever had.

"Um, thanks for waking me up," he whispered, throwing her an awkward smile he wasn't sure she could see. "I'll let you go back to sleep now."

"Do you still have nightmares about him?" Kari abruptly asked, placing a hand on his arm.

TK was taken aback by the suddenness of her gesture. "Uh, not really, if I take a certain medication before I go to sleep," he stuttered. "I have it in my bag, but I guess I was just in such a hurry to go to bed, I forgot to take it." He neglected to leave out why he had wanted to go to be so fast, not wanting to remember their fight.

The tension between the two seemed to fade as TK started to share with his best friend. It almost felt like how it was before they started drinking together.

"You take a pill to stop nightmares?" she asked, trying to hide the amazement in her voice

"Well, that's not what its original use is," he explained. "It's a blood pressure medicine, but they found that it helps with PTSD symptoms."

He heard a small gasp come from the girl, who cut off her reaction short, in fear of offending him. "So you really have PTSD?"

TK nodded, knowing that she couldn't see it very well. "Clinically verified."

The hand that was on his forearm gripped tighter. "How are you so comfortable telling me all of this after how I treated you today?"

TK winced. "I'm not sure," he admitted. "I guess it's a natural response with you."

The room remained silent for a moment. Kari's grip on TK loosened, but she didn't remove her hand. Neither knew what to say, thinking back to their conversation today.

"I'm sorry I didn't tell you," Kari apologized, breaking the silence. "But I stand by my decision. I should have answered your messages this week, but you didn't need to know while you were away."

TK's face tightened in betrayal, yet he couldn't bring himself to be made like he was earlier. He sighed, reaching out his hand for her arm. "I understand why you did it. You were worried, and you had every right to be."

TK pulled his best friend down, laying her next to him awkwardly in the full sized bed. He pushed himself up against the wall so Kari would have enough room. Neither touched the other as they laid down in an awkward silence.

TK flung his arms over his head, placing his hands underneath his hair as he stared up at the ceiling. "Remember that time we got so drunk at the suburb house party and spent the rest of the night trying to stargaze?"

Kari let out a small laugh. "And we got mad because we thought we saw a shooting star but it turned out to just be an airplane."

"And in middle school, when we tried to stay up all night on New Year's Eve—"

"Only to crash on your terrace at 3:30 _—_ "

"And we both got the worst colds of the year because we fell asleep outside in the winter _—_ "

"And you drug your sick body over to my house while your mom was at work so you wouldn't be lonely _—_ "

"And your mom just accepted it and made us both soup."

The two shared a few light chuckles at the memory of them being wrapped up in their blankets watching daytime television. Any tension in the room dissipated as the two continued to go back and forth with funny stories from the past. A decade's worth of material made the awkwardness of the last day melt away.

TK sat up as Kari finished the story on throwing TK's ice cream into the river. He checked the clock on the other side of the room, reading that it said 3:25.

"It's getting late," he whispered, looking down at her. "You should probably get back to bed."

The smile that had been on Kari's face faded as she sat up next to him. "You're probably right. Michelle suggested a sleep schedule to keep everything in shape."

TK was confused for a moment before he remembered who Michelle was. His eyes darted down to Kari's slightly pronounced stomach. In the hour they had been talking, he had forgotten why they were three-hours away from home.

"Before you go, I have to ask," he whispered, placing his hand on her arm to keep her from leaving. "Why are you staying out here?"

Kari bit her cheek. "It's complicated," she admitted, not moving from the bed. "This isn't something that I want getting around. If I go home, then people will know and you'll have to be involved." She gave him a weak smile. "We both don't need that, okay?"

Still confused, he gave her a curt nod. "Stay here," he asked, patting the bed with his free hand. "Sleepover? Just for old time's sake."

As much as Kari didn't want TK to get attached, she had to admit she had missed her best friend over these passed months. Even though she didn't want him to know, she truly wondered if she could have gone the whole pregnancy without talking to him. She knew that she should have let as soon as she had woken him up, but now, she couldn't leave. Kari didn't know when she was going to see him again.

"Okay," she agreed, tossing her feet off the side of the bed. "But we sleep head to toe. No funny business."

TK smirked as he watched her rearrange herself down at the bottom of the bed. "No funny business," he repeated.

The silence returned the room for the third time that evening. TK lay with his hands behind his head, not having moved them from that position since he put them there. He looked up, eyeing Kari on the other side of the bed. She was on her side, her head facing away from his legs. Seeing that she was without a blanket, TK tossed his off of himself and threw it over her body.

She thanked him, curling the blanket up to her neck.

"It's the least I can do," he stated, staring up at the ceiling.

As the night continued to draft on, TK felt his body yearn for their conversation. He wanted to hear her talk about their funniest memories, to discuss the craziest things they've done together. He wondered if there was still more to come.

"Hey, Kari?" he whispered.

"Hmm?" she answered.

"Are things ever going to be the same again?"

There was a pause where the only thing heard in the room was the running of the fan overhead.

"No. This changes everything."

* * *

 **AN: So now you know another one of the difficulties TK's going to have to face integrating. This is the longest chapter I've written for anything ever. I have enter stories with a lower word count than this chapter. Over 8,000 words and 28 pages. I wanted to make sure this chapter was everything I envisioned it to be before I uploaded it.**

 **Also, please don't be worried if you think I'm just going to turn this into a Takari story. I promise you I'm going to do my best not to do that, when really, its a story about TK and TK alone, with some mutual friends along the way.**

 **With that said, as I am uploading this, I will be moving back into my college dorm in 12 hours (I'm not even finished packing). I quickly read through to edit so I could upload this tonight, so I apologize for any mistake I may have made. Please be patient with updates. I know I've kind of left you hanging, but I have the next chapter planned out. I certainly think you all will enjoy what I have in store.**


	5. Hotblack

" _Took a tip from a rodeo show  
Get a grip or you're gonna get thrown  
Take your aim when you take a shot  
For the man under you will take everything you got"_

 _Hotblack-Oceanship_

* * *

"What the fuck?"

Matt turned around from the pot on the stove, staring at his little brother after hearing his comment. TK sat at his kitchen table, laptop open with a book spread out next to it. The last Matt had checked, it had been a resource book for his writing class, but he wasn't sure what could be so exciting about school work to elicit such a reaction.

"'What the fuck' what?" Matt asked, setting down the wooden spoon and wiping his hands on a nearby towel.

TK sat at the table with his head in his hand, staring at his laptop screen in disgust. "Did you know that by seventeen weeks, a fetus' organs have developed and it can urinate in utero?" He looked up from his computer, staring at his brother with a disgusted cringe. "Her uterus is full of fetus pee."

Matt rolled his eyes. He set the timer on the stove to eight minutes, when the noodles for their pasta dish would be finished cooking. He pulled the seat next to TK out and sat down next to him, facing the computer screen. "This doesn't look like homework to me."

An audible sigh escaped TK's lips. "I know."

It had been two weeks since TK had found out about Kari's pregnancy. His mind still spun at the quickness of how everything was handled without him, yet he couldn't stop thinking about how he still had no idea what was going on.

The events of that morning played out in his head again. TK remembered waking up in bed alone, Kari leaving the room earlier. She had barely looked up from her plate at breakfast. And their goodbye before going home was a quick hug and a promise to actually respond to messages, keeping him updated when he wanted.

But none of it felt right to him. Granted, he didn't know what was supposed to feel right in the situation. Even with two weeks to think about the situation himself, TK still didn't know what he would do if he had found out months before.

Instead of going any further with his brother's comment, TK minimized the screen, bringing up the first page of his research paper. In the two hours he had been at his brother's apartment, he had only managed to write two and half sentences.

Matt reached over the keyboard, grabbing the five-subject notebook from the other side of the laptop. TK watched, but didn't protest.

"Research Paper Outline," Matt read aloud. "Topic: teenage substance abuse. Research question: what causes teenagers to abuse illegal substances?" He set the notebook down, giving his little brother a sad smirk. "I assume one of your paragraphs is going to be about the Digital World?"

TK held in a smile, smiling at his brother. "I have to be objective. My experience is a one-time only thing." He picked up the notebook, reading over his outline again. "I've picked parental relationship, economic status, and mental illness as my three topics of research. Sound decent?"

Matt shrugged. "I mean, I guess. I just play angst-ridden music," he joked, standing up to check on the pasta. "I don't know anything about research papers."

TK looked back at his computer screen and finished typing the sentence he was on. He then moved on to the starting sentence of the rest of the paragraphs.

Then he opened the internet tab back up and continued to read from the page he was on.

TK's mind was not on substance abuse, which was a surprise to him, considering that used to be an everyday occurrence with him in the past. Since finding out, he'd been itching to find out what was going on with the baby. Looking back at his biology and health classes, TK realized he had no idea how a baby actually develops in utero. And while he was too embarrassed to ask Kari, he had the power of the internet to aid in reducing his ignorance about the issue he had caused.

"I thought I told you to work on your homework," Matt's voice interrupted TK's reading. TK quickly spun around, startled by the noise. Matt stood behind him, two plates of pasta in hand, with a sad smile on his face.

TK sighed and shut his laptop, pushing everything to the other side of the table. He took one of the plates from his brother's hand and sat it where his laptop was. He picked up the fork and pushed the pasta around his plate, not sure whether he was hungry enough to eat or not.

Matt's voice interrupted him. "What are you thinking about?" he asked in between bites.

TK sighed again, forcing himself to eat a bite regardless of his level of hunger. "I don't know. The same things I've been thinking about since I found out."

Matt gave a small smile, trying to look comforting to his brother. Matt hadn't come to terms with what was happening with his brother and his best friend's sister, so he had no doubt that TK hadn't either. He knew it was a difficult time, considering the fact that TK still hadn't properly integrated all the way.

Matt sighed, picking at the food on his plate. "I know it's difficult to grasp."

TK wanted to snap back, but nothing came out. He caught his tongue, starring down at his plate. "I guess."

The room fell into an uncomfortable silence as the brothers barely ate. TK moved his food around, but rarely put a bite in his mouth. By the time he did, it was already cold.

There wasn't much to say at that point. TK didn't really know what to say in that situation. But he had enough of the awkward silence between the two of them and spoke up.

"Did you know that by eighteen weeks, fetuses can hiccup?" he asked, timidly.

Matt raised an eyebrow, stopping his fork mid-lift. "What?"

"Yeah," TK said, continuing to push around his food. "When their organs develop, a fetus can do most basic human functions in utero." He looked over at his brother with a small smile. "My baby can hiccup. That's pretty cool."

Matt's heart skipped a beat as he tried to hide his shock at his brother's phrasing. By the look on TK's face, he hadn't noticed what he said either. Matt placed his fork on his plate and folded his hands together over the table, resting his elbows on the top. "What did you just say?"

"That hiccupping fetuses are cool?" TK asked with his third mouthful of food, confused by the response he got.

Matt gave his brother a stern look. "TK, you called it 'your baby.'"

TK raised an eyebrow. "What? No, I didn't."

Matt face scrunched up, not sure if TK was lying or he really didn't know he had. "Yeah, you did."

There was no answer from his brother. Instead, TK stared down at his plate, moving pieces of food like he had done before. The look on his face was hard to miss. A blush of red tinted his cheeks at his mistake.

Matt sighed, "TK, you heard what Kari said. That's not your baby. That's the adoptive parents' baby."

An audible huff came from TK's mouth as he set his fork down. He held his hands up, exasperated. "But like… that baby is mine, though," he defended. "Fifty percent of its DNA comes from me. Why can't I call it my baby?"

"You're not going to raise it," Matt countered. TK's face faltered and his hands fell down. Matt continued, "You're not going to be its parent. You're not going to provide for this child. Neither you nor Kari have any parental claim."

TK didn't respond. His head tilted down to his plate. He suddenly found the meal unappetizing and couldn't continue. Instead, he looked away from his brother, not really sure how to respond to anything Matt said.

Matt sighed, realizing how harsh his words sounded. It hurt him to do that, but he knew that he had to kick whatever ownership TK thought he had over that child out of him.

The two sat in silence for a few minutes until Matt was finished with his meal. He looked up, noticing TK hadn't eaten anything.

"Does Mom even know?" he finally asked.

TK shook his head, still refusing to look at his brother. "No."

* * *

The only sound coming from the library was the shuffling of books back onto the shelves. TK reveled in the silence, feeling alone for once.

His hand scrolled across the touchpad of his laptop. His attention from his biology project faded as his curiosity on fetal development increased. He was back on the websites from a few days before at Matt's apartment, learning more about what was going on with his child.

He shook his head, remembering what Matt had said about using phrases like "his child." It still didn't make complete sense to TK, but Kari had insisted that Matt was right when they had talked about it.

Pushing that thought to the back of his mind, he continued to scroll over the interactive features, pointing out what was developing where on the digital fetus.

"What are you looking at?" a voice behind him asked with a tint of disgust in his voice.

TK quickly closed his laptop as he felt a hand brush up on his back. He turned around to see Tyler behind him with a raised eyebrow. "Oh, just a bio project," he lied, trying to pace his heart.

The confused look on Tyler's face washed away. "Oh, okay. It just looked really weird."

TK laughed it off as best as he could as he checked the time on his phone. The lunch period was about to be over. He started packing up his things that laid across the table.

"Anyway," Tyler said, handing TK a pen that lay near him. "I still feel really bad about that party. I didn't mean for any of that to happen."

TK sighed a breath of relief. Waving his hand, he replied, "Don't worry about it. I know how out-of-hand those things can get."

"But I do feel really bad," Tyler continued. "Let me make it up to you. Video games and pizza, my house, Friday night, just us and a couple of guys from the team. Sound good?"

TK bit his cheek, remembering how this went the last time. If it was just him and Tyler, then he probably would have accepted the offer without hesitation. Tyler seemed to be one of the few people who took TK's condition seriously. It was the other guys on the team the teenager still wasn't sure about.

But he knew better than to pass up an opportunity to integrate. He nodded his hand, holding his hand up. "Sounds great. I'll be there."

Tyler grabbed his hand, slapping into a handshake with a big smile on his face. "Great. I'll tell the guys."

* * *

TK knocked the door of the apartment. A steady rain had started since his departure from his own place, soaking his jacket and hat into soggy messes. He reached up for his hat to take it off as the door swung open.

"Hey, TK, come on in!" Tyler exclaimed, leading the way to the living room. A roar of greetings followed as TK appeared. A few guys from the team were spread around Tyler's living room, with a car game on the floor and three boxes of pizza sitting on the coffee table.

"Hey, man, long time, no see," one of the boys said from his seat on the floor. He was leaned up against the couch, a slice of pizza in one hand.

TK greeted him back, making sure to get around to everyone. The room was small, with only four other guys and two girls TK had never seen before sitting on the couch.

TK sat down on the floor next to Tyler, reaching over the coffee table to a slice of pizza himself. The conversation continued as it had before the blonde boy arrived, with a few rounds of poker scattered through the anecdotes.

Tyler groaned loudly as Bradley, another boy from the team, reached over and scoped Tyler's whole collection of Oreo cookies away from him. TK placed a hand on Tyler's shoulder and laughed, "maybe you shouldn't have placed your whole stack on that one hand."

Tyler huffed, throwing his cards on the table. "This game's dumb anyway," he pouted, folding his arms. "I don't even care about the dumb Oreos. I can go buy my own."

The room laughed harder at his reaction. The girl sitting nearest Tyler on the couch reached over to her own Oreo stack and picked one up. "Oh, stop complaining," she joked, shoving the cookie into Tyler's mouth.

Tyler choked, spitting the whole cookie onto the coffee table. "What the fuck, Kami?" he complained as a collective groan of disgust begun to mix in with the laughter.

TK, still laughing with a slight cringe on his face, slowly stood up. "I get some paper towels to clean that."

"No, let me," the girl insisted, using Tyler's head to balance herself up. Tyler let out another complaint, but the girl didn't react.

TK walked with her into the kitchen down the hall. "So your name's Kami?" he asked, reaching up to grab the towels from the top of the fridge.

"Yep, that's me," Kami replied. She took the roll from TK and tore off a few squares. "And you must be TK."

"The one and only," he playfully smirked as he put the roll back. He walked over the garbage can and picked it up. Kami looked confused by what he was doing. "What? Are you gonna his spit cookie back?"

Kami shrugged, walking backwards out of the kitchen. "Excellent point."

The two returned the living room and joined in on the laughter as Tyler tried to clean up his mess. Other boys started throwing their used plates and napkins at the trash in TK's hand. Bradley balled up his napkin and shot it from the couch. "Three points!" he yelled, making it into the basket.

"Easy shot," another boy dismissed, wadding up his own napkin. He took a few steps back and shot it, landing it in the can.

The boys continued to take shots use their used napkins, moving the garbage can around a few times. TK eventually quit moving the can and joined in. He made every shot he attempted. A rush of adrenaline came flying through his veins. Even if it was just some greasy pizza napkins and a garbage bag, it reminded him of the rush he used to feel during a game.

"Hold on," Kami interrupted, picking up her own napkin. "I don't have time for amateur hour." She walked over the garbage can and moved it into the hallway.

"Kami, come on," the other girl groaned. "I wanna go already. The party's already started."

"Hold on," Kami brushed aside, walking back from the other end of the hall. She balled her napkin and closed one eye, lining it up from the other end of the apartment. Tongue sticking out, she shot the napkin. The boys held their breath as the watched the napkin go into the basket.

The boys started screaming as Kami turned around and gave them a wink. "And with that, we're out," she smirked, turning around to her friend on the couch. She grabbed her bag amongst the laughter of the boys in the room and turned around, looking at TK on the other end of the room. He was impressed by the shot, though he knew it was just a napkin in a garbage can. She smiled at him, hoisting her bag on her shoulder.

"We're heading over to Connor's house party. It's supposed to be the best this semester, if you guys wanna join us?" Kami invited the room, but kept her eyes on TK.

TK felt his cheeks heat up at the thought of a party. He had heard through the grapevine about it, remembering how parties at that classmates house normally went. He normally would have been there already, three beers and two shots deep.

"Oh no, TK and I are gonna stick back here and chill," Tyler spoke for him, placing an arm around his friend's neck. "But be sure to keep me updated."

The other girl pulled on Kami's arm as she swung her backpack on her shoulder. "Come on," she whispered through her teeth, nudging towards the door.

"Hold on," Kami laughed, pushing the girl's hand off her. "Let me put the garbage can back and then we'll go."

The two girls and the teammates who decided to go with them started heading for the door, saying their goodbyes. TK joined their pack, heading for the can. "No, I can get it. I brought it out here, anyway."

"What a gentleman," Kami laughed, rolling her eyes.

TK picked up the can and returned it to the kitchen. Kami followed him in, pulling her cellphone from her jean pocket. "You sure you don't wanna come?" she asked. "I've got plenty to share."

TK shook his head and smiled. "No, I'm really fine here. Thanks, though."

Kami began punching some buttons on her phone. "Well, here, put your number in anyway," she asked, handing him the pink phone. "In case you decide you want to come or maybe show off some more of your napkin throwing moves."

TK rolled his eyes playfully at her comment before putting his number into her phone. "Sure, maybe I'll show you on a real court next time."

"Good," Kami laughed, turning towards the door the rest of the party walked out. "It's a date."

As the door shut, TK walked back into the living room and started helping Tyler clear out the pizza boxes. "Who is that girl?"

"Kami?" Tyler asked, half a slice of cold pizza hanging from his mouth. He set down the slice on a spare plate laying on the floor. "She's Bradley's little sister, a junior. I don't know much else about her though. He just asked if he could bring her."

TK stayed silent, trying to remember if he had met her before, seeing as she was a teammate's sibling. Tyler interrupted his thoughts with a sly look on his face. "She _is_ pretty hot," he smirked, narrowing his eyes.

TK shoved his friend, balancing the pizza boxes in his other hand. "It's not like that; I _just_ met her."

Tyler rolled his eyes and headed towards the kitchen. "Well, I guess you've gotta have a new plaything while Kari's gone."

TK stopped in his tracks. He had honestly forgotten about Kari in the two hours he had spent there. The thought of everything going on with her flooded back into his mind. "It… It was never like that with Kari," he stammered, regaining his composure.

"Sure, man, that's why I caught your two so many times," Tyler scoffed from the kitchen.

TK took the empty boxes into the kitchen. His eyebrows furrowed. "I'm serious," he demanded. "Kari and I were never a thing. It just… happened a few times."

Tyler rolled his eyes. "Whatever you say, man." He reached under the sink and pulled out a large garbage bag. "Speaking of her, have you heard from her lately? You seemed surprised the other week when I told you she was studying abroad."

TK looked up confused as he put the pizza boxes in the garbage bag. His eyes then shot wide open. "Oh yeah! She's abroad," he said, remembering the story. "Yeah, I got in contact with her, but she said she couldn't talk for long. I didn't even get to hear where she is, but she seems to be doing fine."

Tyler shrugged, placing the bag by the can to be taken out later. "If you say so. I just remember you looked really concerned, that's all."

TK didn't want to talk about Kari. It just reminded him how there was going to be a kid in the world with his DNA somewhere soon, and that wasn't a thought he really cared to think about. TK laughed, trying to change the subject, "I'm surprised you remember anything from that night. You looked pretty hammered."

Tyler blushed and pushed his way out of the living room. "Let's not talk about that, shall we?"

* * *

It was 11 PM when TK walked back into this apartment. The light from the side table in the living room was still on, to no surprise. He was used to coming home to his mother working on some article, waiting for him to come home.

"Hey, Mom, sorry I'm home late," TK apologized, taking off his shoes. "I stayed behind to help Tyler clean up a bit."

There was no response. After putting his shoes up, TK slowing walked down the entrance hall to see if his mother was still awake. "Mom?" he called, walking into the room. On the couch, he saw the back of her head, he hair thrown up in a messy bun. Confusedly, he asked, "Mom, is everything okay?"

"I don't know, Takeru," she bluntly replied. " _Is_ everything okay?"

A shiver went down his spine at the use of his full name. That was only saved for when he was in a lot of trouble. "What do you mean?" he asked, standing what he felt was safely behind the couch.

His mother turned her body around to face her youngest son. "I went through your computer today."

TK's eyes widen and he felt heat rise in his face. "Wait, what? Why did you do that?"

"I've been doing it every two weeks now, just to make sure you weren't up to anything detrimental to your health," his mother admitted, her voice still very stern. "And boy, did I find some interesting things this time."

TK stopped breathing. He knew what she found, but the extent to which she figured out what still up in the air. He was going to talk to her eventually, but he wasn't prepared in that moment. The invasion of his privacy would be a concern for later. He gulped, not able to look his mother in the eye. "And what did you find?" he asked.

"Well, I did the usual at first, just going through your search history," she stated, pulling his laptop from the side table to her lap. "I was only a little concerned at the amount of pregnancy websites my teenage son was looking at. At first, I just thought it might perhaps a be school assignment, but if it was…" Her eyes darted from the screen, where she was loading something, to her son. "It was a bit of an overkill."

TK remained quiet at his interrogation. His cheeks became inflamed and he wanted to run to his room. He decided not to speak.

"What really had me was before I could check your email account, you were sent an email," she continued, pulling up said email. "The email is titled 'Eighteen Week Picture.'" His mother turned the laptop towards her son with the picture blown up full screen. "Now, I still gave you the benefit of the doubt, thinking maybe it could be something found using a Google search. Until…"

His mother paused, motioning for TK to come closer to the screen. TK obeyed, taking a step closer to the couch. Her finger tapped on corner of the screen. "Takeru, whose name is that?"

TK let out a sharp exhale, following by a harsh gulp again. "It's… um, it's Kari's name," he stumbled through, remembering their agreement on ultrasound updates.

Ms. Takaishi pushed the computer off her lap and patted the seat next to her. "Why don't you come tell me what's going on?"

TK didn't speak. He slowly made his way to the other side of the couch and sat down. He immediately began playing with this thumbs, unable to look up.

"Okay, I guess I'll start," his mother took charge with an irritated tone in her voice. "Question one: is Kari Kamiya pregnant?"

TK exhaled again, trying to find his voice as he continued to look down at his lap. "Yes," he finally answered.

A short silence separated the answer and the next question. "Question two: who's the father?"

TK closed his eyes and cringed. He didn't want to answer, not like that, but he knew he was sunk. "Me."

"Are you sure?" she quickly asked.

"One hundred percent," he responded just as fast.

He heard a mumble under his mother's breath that he couldn't make out. "Okay, question three: how long have you known?"

"Only two weeks," he answered.

"Four: were you ever planning on telling me?"

"Eventually."

"Five: what's your plan?"

"Kari found an amazing couple who wants to adopt it. They're paying for all her medical expenses."

"Six: who else knows?"

"Just me, Matt, Tai, her parents, and her grandmother who she's living with until it's over."

The room fell into a silence. There was nothing more that TK could say without being prompted. He never wanted his mother to find out like that. He wanted to confront her on going through his computer, but he didn't think it would be an appropriate time.

Ms. Takaishi broke the silence. "How could you let this happen? I thought I gave you the talk. I thought I told not to have sex until you were married."

"I don't know," TK groaned, throwing his face into his palms by his knees. "It was after a party, I guess. We never… had sex when we were sober."

"Oh great," his mother sarcastically exclaimed. "A drunken teenage pregnancy out of wedlock. You sure know how to make me proud."

TK couldn't even rebuttal. She had every right to be upset, with everything he had done that past year. "I'm sorry, Mom."

He could hear his mother exhale, but he wasn't sure if she was calming down or not. "Go to bed, TK. We'll talk about this more in the morning."

TK stood up, ready to be out of his mother's gaze.

"Also, don't make any plans for tomorrow," she demanded. "I'm calling the Kamiyas first thing in the morning. We have a lot of talking to do."

"Yes, Mom," TK conceded in a whisper.

As he turned for the short hallway towards his room, his mother spoke up. "One more thing," she said. He turned around, finally looking at his mother. She was holding up his laptop for him to take. "I'm very disappointed in you, for letting it happen and for not telling me."

TK didn't respond. He walked back over, took his laptop, and shuffled his way back into his room. His stomach was in knots. He had expected a lot of yelling, just like she had done in the hospital months earlier. The calmness of her reprimands made the conversation more nauseous than TK had expected it to be.

He sat down on his bed and opened his laptop. The email was still open, the picture full screen. He hadn't gotten to look at it passed Kari's name. The black and white image still confused him. He could make out the head, the nose, and the legs, but that's about it. No amount of website prepping could have prepared him to figure out his own child's ultrasound.

TK saved the picture to his desktop and minimized the image. He opened Kari's email, finally able to read it:

"Baby's doing great. Growth is on track and heartbeat is strong. I decided against finding out the sex. Didn't want us to get attached. I'm doing fine, too. Hope you're doing well. I'll see you Christmas break. —Kari."

A smile crept on his face, thankful that things seemed fine in her end, despite the circumstances. He hit the reply button and began typing:

"Thanks for the picture. I'm glad things are fine. My mom read this email before I could tell her. She's calling your parents tomorrow. I'll call you, too. I'm sorry. —TK."

TK sent the email and powered down his laptop, setting it on his desk. He quickly changed into his sleeping clothes as fast as his foggy conscious could take him. Despite handling things himself the past two weeks, his mother knowing made things feel as real as they did when TK was with Kari finding out for himself.

As he lay down in bed, TK stared up at the ceiling, watching the light from the street lamps down below. All he could think about was his mother, the baby, and how much he needed a drink.

* * *

 **AN: Sorry for the long update. I'm taking my senior level courses in my major and I've had a lot of really negative stuff happen in my personal life. With that said, I finally have a set direction I want this story to go, but I will most likely not have another chapter up until perhaps May or June, because I'm taking a summer class in May as well. Thank you all for your patience and I hope you enjoy what I've presented so far.**


	6. Locked Inside Your Heart-Shaped-Box

" _She eyes me like a Pisces when I am weak  
I've been locked inside your heart-shaped box for weeks"_

 _Heart-Shaped Box - Nirvana_

* * *

"How did it go?"

TK wasn't surprised by the informal greeting over the phone. The past two days had been confusing enough without questioning the suddenness of Kari's call during his lunch hour. He already knew what she meant by "it."

He exhaled, leaning against the backwall of the school and sliding down the ground. "How do you think it went?" TK rebuked.

"I don't know; that's why I asked you," Kari returned with an equal amount of anger.

TK groaned, throwing his hand over his eyes. "It mostly my mom yelling: at me, at your parents, at the cat at one point. She's just pissed that no one told her."

"That's understandable, I guess," Kari replied, meeker than her tone before.

"I don't know. I didn't get to say much," TK continued. "My mom kept yelling about rehab and addiction and the same-old stuff she's always preoccupied with."

"And my parents?" Kari asked.

TK exhaled again, trying to get the images out of his mind. "Your mom wouldn't look at me and your dad wouldn't look away," he recalled as an involuntary shiver ran down his spine. "Your mom did most of the talking though, like logistics and stuff."

"She was the one who helped make a lot of the arrangements," Kari mentioned, a tone of realization in her voice. "She'd be better at explaining than anyone else."

"But yeah," TK trailed off, removing his hand from his face and placing it on his bent knees. "That's how my Sunday went: talking to your parents about my alcoholism and our bastard child."

He could almost hear Kari wince over the phone. "I'm sorry about that," she apologized. "I told them everything when I found out. They shouldn't have asked you any more than that."

"It's whatever," TK waved off, squinted up at the clouds to keep the sun out of his eyes. "I'll have to face them when you come back, anyway. Why not do it a bit earlier?"

Neither laughed. The phone turned silent for a few seconds as neither one knew exactly what to say in that moment. TK stared at the clouds slowly moving overhead of the school as he chewed on his button lip.

"Did you tell Patamon?" Kari interrupted the silence.

"What?" TK asked, bringing himself back down from the sky. "No, I haven't." His cheeks turned bright red. "I actually haven't talked to Patamon since before I went to rehab."

"Okay," Kari said, relieved. "I haven't told Gatomon either. I don't really plan on telling anyone else: the Digimon or the rest of the Digidestined."

The phone remained silent as TK didn't know how to respond. He figured that Kari would have told her Digimon partner about such a major life event, but exclusion of their closest friends all together didn't sit well with him.

"It's for the best, TK," Kari assured harshly, understanding what the silence meant. "This is a really awkward situation and I don't want any more people involved than already are."

TK understood, but didn't say anything, still feeling uneasy.

"And besides, we already get enough teasing from them as it is." Kari chimed in, a bit more chipper than the conversation had been. "Don't you think adding a baby to the mix would make it exponentially worse?"

TK cracked a smile and snorted air from his nose. "You're not wrong."

"I'm normally not," Kari joked.

"I can hear Mimi now."

"Buying literally every item of clothing that could fit a baby."

"And demanding everyone refer to her as 'Aunt Mimi' from now on."

"Joes obsessing over the baby's health while Sora worries about mine."

"And Izzy freaking out over some random ancient Digimon prophecy about Hope and Light."

"While Cody and Ken stock us up on every parenting and baby book they can get their hands on."

"And Davis searches for the smallest soccer ball he can find to teach the kid young."

"And Tai and Matt argue over who the best uncle will be."

"And Yolei constantly nagging us on when we're gonna get married."

The playful banter went silent as the laughs died out into an awkward silence. The smile fell from TK's face as Kari didn't reply. He thought back on what they had talked about, how they pictured all their friends would react to the news under different circumstances.

"H-Hey, Kari," TK stammered. "You'll get that one day."

Taking a moment longer to bask in the silence, Kari faintly whispered, "Yeah."

The bell rang from inside the school, signaling the end of TK's lunch period. He just noticed that he didn't eat anything, but after that conversation, he suddenly wasn't feeling up to eating.

"I heard the bell. You better get going," Kari acknowledged with the same faint tone in her voice as before.

TK stood up, bracing himself on the wall. "Okay, I'll call you later tonight?"

"No need."

A sharp pain of rejection shot through his body, but he pressed on, knowing better than to argue with her. "Okay, I'll talk to you later then." He picked up his bag from the ground before remembering. He quickly added, "And thanks for the pictures. Hope everything's going okay."

"A deal's a deal, Takaishi," Kari responded. "Now get to class, for the both of us."

* * *

TK's phone vibrated from behind the stack of books on the table in front of him. His eyebrows raised up in alarm as he reached to grab it. A week had passed since his phone call with Kari and she hadn't been eager to talk more with him since.

TK looked at the screen, seeing a name he had almost forgotten.

"Kami?" he whispered, opening the text message she sent.

" _Wanna hang out Friday after school_?" read the text message.

The front door of the apartment opened and shut as his mother returned from work. "TK, sweetie, I'm home."

TK scrambled to throw his phone away from him. He knew that if his mother saw him communicating with a girl that wasn't Kari, he wouldn't hear the end of it. Placing it back behind the stack of book, TK went back to his copy of _A Tale of Two Cities_ , pencil in hand to annotate as needed.

"Hey, Mom," he nonchalantly replied, not moving his head from the page in front of him.

Ms. Takaishi set her bag down on the countertop and walked over to her son. She bent down to read the title of the book he was reading. " _A Tale of Two Cities_?" She looked over at the stack of books, picking them up as she read the title. " _A Christmas Carol_? _Great Expectations_? _David Copperfield_? TK, this book is huge! It must be seven-hundred pages!"

"Seven-hundred and twenty-nine, to be exact," TK commented while underlining a passage in the book his hand. He reached over to his notebook and jotted a few notes on the topic. "My senior project is a literary analysis of the works of Charles Dickens with a concentration on the powers of class and marriage in Victorian Era Great Britain."

His mother stared at her son dumbfounded by the words that came out of his mouth. She had known her son always had in interest in literature and writing, but she didn't know how to respond to such a project.

TK looked up at his mother as he felt her eyes staring at him. "I'm going to read these books and then research their relevance to the Victorian era based on marriages and social class," he explained again.

TK placed the book he was holding on the table, his pencil acting as a book mark, and reached over for the biggest book on the table. He ran his hand down the side, flicking all of the tabs protruding from the pages. "I have enough information from _David Copperfield_ alone, but I decided to take the project a step farther by examining some of Dickens' other most famous works."

Ms. Takaishi shook her head as she placed the book remaining in her hand back on the pile. "Well, I'm sure impressed, TK," she complimented. "You seem to be getting back on the right track."

TK bit his tongue, placing the larger book back down on the table with a louder thud than he would have liked. He wanted to remind her that his alcohol problem she was alluding to had never affected his schoolwork, but he knew better than to pick a fight, not after the week of slights and passive aggressive comments that had finally begun to die down. Despite the new information, his mother had finally begun to let TK be alone after school instead of having to go to Matt's apartment until she got home, and TK was very eager to keep this routine up.

The phone vibrated on the table again, causing TK to jump in his seat. He had completely forgotten about the text.

"Who is that, dear?" his mother asked, her back turned from him as she sorted out the papers in her bag. "Your brother? Kari?"

TK couldn't help but notice the slight dig at him at her guess of Kari, but he let it go, since this was one of the few times that week his mother had referred to her by name and not his "baby mama." He opened up the message, seeing another one from Kami.

" _If Friday doesn't work, we can hang out another day."_

TK shook his head as he typed by a reply: " _No Friday's good. Meet outside the front gate?_ "

"TK?" his mother asked again.

"Oh, uh…" TK tried to think quickly. "It's Ken. He asked if we could hang out on Friday. I don't get to see him a lot, seeing as he goes to that fancy private school and all."

His mother turned around with a skeptical look on her face. "I've always liked Ken," she responded in a tone that questioning her own beliefs. "But on a Friday night?"

TK rolled his eyes, still holding his phone in his hand. "We'll probably just hang out at his place while he tells me all about some computer program or something," he explained.

Ms. Takaishi nervously nodded her head. "Okay then, as long as that's all you're doing."

"Mom, you're gonna have to start trusting me again sometime," TK bluntly responded, causing his mother to look him in the eyes.

His mother locked eyes with her son and her face fell to a stern glare. "I was starting to until you tried to hide this baby from me," she retorted. "I want to trust you, TK, but you haven't given me a lot of reasons to."

TK watched as his mother grabbed her cell phone from her bag and walk towards her room, presumably to change out of her work clothes before dinner. TK groaned, turning back to his school work. Before he could pick up his book again, the phone in his hand vibrated again with another message.

" _Great! See ya then!"_

* * *

The sun was starting to fall behind the apartment buildings as TK walked onto the court outside the school. He had quickly changed from his uniform to some comfortable gym clothes after school. There was no one around on the court that he could see, so he dropped his bag off on the bench and bounced the ball on the ground a few times.

Hearing the rubber hit the court was such a comforting feeling. TK hadn't picked up a basketball since his free time in rehab, when they let him go to the gym to work off some frustration from counselling. It had been almost a month since he had touched a basketball, throwing all of his extra time into Kari and his schoolwork. But this was a much needed break for him, as his new therapist told him to do.

He shot the ball and bit his lip at the thought of his therapist. His mother had insisted on TK seeing one, with his alcoholism and now the baby. She said she was worried all the stress would drive him to drink again. While he hadn't given her much of an excuse to believe him, TK did feel like it was a bit much.

"Starting without me, huh?" a voice teased behind him.

TK pulled himself out of his own self-loathing and turned around. Kami was setting her bag down on the bench next to his and bent over to make sure her sneaker was tied tightly. "Just a warm-up," TK laughed. "I haven't touched a basketball in a while."

Kami ran over to the ball and tossed it at him as she lined up in front of the basket. "Scared I'll kick your ass, Takaishi?" she smirked.

TK raised an eyebrow at her response and smirked, "Not at all." He shot the ball up and over her head, landing it in the basket. "Just try to stop me."

The two went played rough for an hour. Kami was better than TK had anticipated. She knew how to get around him with ease. The two had stopped keeping score and were running on pride.

TK felt a drop of sweat fall down his forehead onto his nose. He wiped it off with his shirt as he heard Kami's exhausted voice call out after she ran back with the loose ball.

"I think we're done for the afternoon. Sound fair?" she asked, setting the ball on the bench.

"Fair," TK sighed trying to catch his breath. He sat down on the ground by the fence, cooled by the shade as he watched the sun go further down the city skyline. Kami followed next to him, bringing her bag over.

The girl pushed a part of her brown hair behind her ear as she reached into her bag. "My brother wouldn't tell me what you like, so I just packed these. Hope this is fine," she said, handing a water bottle over to TK.

TK eyed the bottle suspiciously, knowing it wasn't water. "What is this?"

"Smirnoff Ice," she replied, taking a gulp from her own bottle. "Kyle's throwing a party at his house tonight. Thought we'd start early; that is, if you wanna come."

TK's heart pumped looking at the bottle in his hand. He hadn't held anything with alcohol in it for a four month. With everything going on in his life, the urge to chug the whole bottle was strong. Instead, TK reached over, setting the bottle back in her bag. "Oh, no thanks," he responded. "I don't drink."

"Oh, dude, I'm sorry," Kami apologized, putting her own bottle back. "That's probably why my brother didn't tell me what you liked."

TK laughed it off, trying to get over the topic. He wasn't in the mood to tell someone he had just met his whole summer story. "It's not a big deal."

"So I assume you don't wanna come with me tonight?" Kami laughed.

"I'll take a raincheck," TK smiled, thankful to be over the conversation.

"Besides, you kinda smell really bad," Kami joked, shoving TK lightly. "Worked up too much of a sweat against me?"

TK laughed and shoved her back. "You're just as bad."

Kami giggled as shoved him again, grabbing his shirt as he falls to his side. The two continued to laughed at each other before Kami turned over to her bag and began to dig around for something. TK didn't know what came over him. In that moment, he felt like a normal teenager again.

"Hey, Kami?" he asked.

Kami turned around, the word "yeah?" on the tip of her tongue. Before she could get it out, TK's lips crashed onto her, his hand on her jaw to stabilize her face locked on his. The two kissed and TK felt every receptor in his mind go off.

When Kami didn't pull away, TK cut the kiss off, moving slightly away from her face to look her in the eyes. "I'm sorry. That just felt right."

Kami gave him a small smile. "You sure you don't wanna come to this party with me? We could pick this up again."

TK reciprocated her smile. "Raincheck?"

Kami nodded, not understanding fully but not wanting to push her luck. "Raincheck," she responded, moving her lips back up to TK's. TK wasn't sure what he enjoyed more: kissing Kami or the taste of Smirnoff on her lips.

* * *

"You kissed her?" Davis asked, a handful of French fries hanging from his mouth.

TK raised an eyebrow, reaching over for another chicken nugget. "Yeah? Is there something wrong about that?

Kami left the basketball court shortly after, having received a call from her friend to get ready for the night. TK kissed her goodbye again and began to walk home when he got a call from Davis to meet up. The brunet had seen TK and the girl outside the school after his soccer practice and had to know what went down.

Davis shook his head, swallowing his fries. "Nothing's wrong with that, man," Davis replied and took a sip of his soda. "Just didn't think she was your type, that's all."

TK's eyes narrowed as he chewed on his food. "What do you mean by that?" he asked through a mouthful of chicken nuggets.

Davis shrugged, tilting his drink with an indifferent look on his face. "I don't know; she just doesn't. I've just heard some shit about her."

"Like what?" TK interjected, a feeling of suspicious and anger in his tone.

"I don't know!" Davis whined. "I've just heard she's kind of a shit-show. Likes to party a whole lot, a few drugs here and there." He shrugged again, picking up more fries. "Like I said, I don't know. I've never really seen her around at anything I've been to, so it's all secondhand rumors."

TK remained quiet for a moment, taking in this new information. Kami didn't seem like someone who would be too into his old partying day, although he did just meet her. He shook his head and picked up another nugget. He had plenty of time to get to know her.

"Besides," Davis interrupted his thoughts, smirking, "Kami's cute and all, but she's no Kari."

TK rolled his eyes. "Whatever, Davis," he laughed.

"I mean, come on," Davis laughed, leaning forward over the table. "I've had a huge crush on Kari for years and you've been pulling her in all this time!"

TK cringed, remembering various mornings waking up next to his best friend. "I wouldn't say that," he groaned. "There's nothing going on between us."

"You promise?" Davis joked, overexaggerating a wink.

The flash of the sonogram flew across TK's mind before he quickly pushed it out. "Promise, man," he laughed. "She's all yours to try to win over."

Davis laughed along with him, leaning back in his head. "Sure, dude. If only she would answer my texts. I haven't heard from her since you left. Is she having fun studying abroad?"

TK shrugged, twirling his straw around in his cup. "I don't know. I really haven't heard from her," he lied. He felt bad about lying to Davis of all people, but he knew he had to, for Kari's sake.

Davis furrowed his eyebrowed in shock. "Really?" he asked. "Hmm. I just figured she would have told you everything." Davis shrugged. "Guess she's just having too much fun."

TK put on a fake smile, knowing that Kari was having the opposite of fun. "Yeah, I'm sure that's it."

* * *

TK slammed his body into his bed after his long shower. Upon returning home, he remembered how gross and sweaty he had gotten playing basketball with Kami. The second degree from his mother on why he was so exhausted after supposedly hanging out with Ken was frustrating. The sheets smelled fresh, like they had just been washed, something suspicious because he hadn't washed his sheets recently. TK sat up in his bed and noticed a few items out of place, including his missing Digivice from his desk.

"Mom," he groaned, realizing his mother had gone through his room looking for contraband again.

TK walked over to his desk and started pulling out drawers until he found where she had hidden his Digivice. He held it in his hand for a moment, trying to remember what he had done the last time he had been to the Digital World. It felt like forever ago, even though it was only about a half of a year.

He sighed, placing it back down on his desk before turning off the overhead light and crawling into bed. He wondered if Matt had told Patamon what was going on. Part of him hoped he did, so he wouldn't have to explain himself to his partner.

A ding came from his phone, startling him in the silence. He reached over and opened the message.

" _This party's awesome! Wish you could be here xoxo,_ " Kami sent.

TK let out a small laugh, wondering how drunk she was. He felt his stomach ache at the thought, though. He left her messages and scrolled down to the last ones from Kari. He remembered when he got texts similar to that from her, usually meaning to come get her. Recently, the messages between the two of them have been short. The most in-depth conversation the two had had in a while was at the beginning of the week, and even that had ended awkwardly.

The ache in his stomach turned into a drop. TK felt a pang of guilt beginning to hit him. While he was out having fun, Kari was hours away carrying his baby. His mouth became dry at the thought, but he slowly shook himself out of it.

"I'll call her tomorrow and see how she's doing," he resolved, setting his phone back down on his bedside table. "I'm sure she would want to live normally. That's why she's doing this, right?"

TK turned over after his contemplation, not sure if he was completely satisfied with his own answer. He would have to wait until the morning to solve that for himself.

* * *

 **AN: sorry to leave on a short notice. To be honest, this was mostly a filler chapter because I need some build up to the two chapters I'm most excited to write. I'm very excited for you all to see what I have in store for this work. Finals week is coming up, so it'll be a little while before another update. I apologize for that. Thank you to everyone who had kept up with this story.**


	7. Hard Times

" _Hard times: gonna make you wonder why you even try  
Hard times: gonna take you down and laugh when you cry  
These lives; And I still don't know how I even survive  
Hard times"_

 _Hard Times - Paramore_

* * *

Matt's cellphone rang from its place on his dresser. The man groaned, thrown from his slumber. He looked over at the clock: 2:24 A.M. His head slammed back down to the pillow, groaning even louder before throwing his legs over the side of his bed.

He reached for his phone, answering the call before he could look at the caller I.D. "Hello?" he groggily whispered.

"Hey, Matt," a faint whisper replied from the other end.

Matt sat back down on his bed, resting his head in his hand on his knee. "TK, it's 2:30 in the morning. What's wrong?"

"Uh… I just didn't know who else to call," TK confessed, sounding stressed. "My mind wouldn't stop racing and my medicine didn't work."

"What do you mean, it didn't work?" Matt asked.

There was a silence from the other end of the phone for a few seconds as TK tried to gather his thoughts. "My medicine," he finally answered, flustered and sporadic. "I-I don't know, Matt. I think my medicine is wearing off and it's not working, and the nightmares keep coming back and they're worse now because they're including that night I overdosed and I just don't know what to do."

"Okay, slow down," Matt replied, trying to calm his brother down. "Your medicine isn't wearing off. It's just a bad night."

"Matt, I saw myself die and Devimon led me to hell and—"

"But none of that happened," Matt cut him off.

Silence followed, with only TK's limited heavy breath to calm himself. Matt stayed on the phone, not wanting to speak until spoken to.

After a minute, TK finally replied, "I'm just scared. I'm sorry to wake you up."

"Scared of what?" Matt asked.

"Nothing, don't worry about it," TK quickly replied, still sounding as nervous as he did when Matt had answered.

Matt still wasn't convinced. He needed to know that TK was going to be okay without falling back into his bad habits. "TK, are you sure you're going to be okay? Do you want me to tell Mom to make another therapist appointment?"

"No, no," the younger brother quickly declined. "I just… I needed someone to talk to about it. I'm sorry to wake you up."

Matt sleepily smiled, falling back down on his bed. "I don't mind being woken up if it means my little brother's safe, okay? Do you want me to stay on the phone with you for a little bit?"

TK sighed, yawning into his answer. "No, I should be okay now. Thanks, Matt."

* * *

TK slumped over in his seat, throwing his upper body on his desk with a thump. He was exhausted, to say the least. After his conversation with Matt the night before, the boy hadn't gotten much sleep. Still, he knew he had to go to school, if anything to avoid any conversation about it with his mother.

His head pounded, trying to get the images of his nightmare out of his head. This had been the first time he had a nightmare about Devimon since he left rehab. He made sure he had taken his nightly medication in the morning, just in case maybe he had forgotten. But he had taken it. He guessed it just didn't work.

TK tried to push that image out of his mind, focusing instead on wondering when the Tylenol he took with his morning medication was going to kick in. The footsteps and shuffling of chairs only made his head pound more.

Something pounced on his back, wrapping its arms around his shoulders. TK sharply pulled up from laying on his desk, startled by whatever attacked him.

"Morning, sleepyhead," a feminine voice giggled behind his ear.

TK's heart rate decreased as he realized what attacked him. Placing a hand on hers that was dangling from his shoulder, he greeted her, "Good morning, Kami."

Kami pulled away from TK, still resting her arms on his shoulders, but allowing TK to turn and see her. Since their first date two weeks prior, the two had spent a lot of time together.

"You weren't in your normal spot on the quad this morning," Kami noted, brushing a strand of hair behind her ear. "I thought maybe you decided to ditch today, until I remembered today's a busy day for you."

TK flinched. "Oh, yeah, that," he remembered, stifling back a yawn. "Senior project idea presentation, where they're gonna tell me that my literary analysis isn't a real research project."

"Oh, you don't know that," Kami nonchalantly brushed off. "I think your idea is fascinating, uh..." She smiled guiltily, trying not to offend him. "What exactly was it again?"

TK smirked, moving his eyesight towards the window. In the short amount of time he had known her, Kami always had a hard time remembering scholarly things like that. "A literary analysis of Charles Dickens and the relationship between social class and marriage in Victorian Era England." He shrugged, returning his attention back to the girl. "I figure I'll can get it through if I tell them how broken my parents' marriage was."

Kami uncomfortably shifted off of him, never knowing how to respond when TK brought up something tragic like that. "I'm sure that'll convince them."

"I can only hope," TK smirked, praising himself for the irony behind his statement as he shuffled some notebooks on his desk. In reality, he more than hoped his idea would get him out of what the senior project committee wanted him to do: a research project on alcohol addiction in young adults. It took everything in his body not to roll his eyes when he heard the suggestion. Ever since his diagnosis, the school seemed to want him to be the spokesperson for addiction in his class. While his mother agreed with the committee, in a faint hope to keep her son from relapsing, Matt and TK both agreed it would be an overkill on his situation.

The silence between the two teenagers worried Kami. She grabbed TK's jaw and pulled his face towards her. Examining his face passed his startled eyes, she grew concerned. "Are you okay, TK?"

TK, still startled by her sudden move, answered without removing her hand. "I'm fine, just a little tired. I didn't sleep a lot last night."

"Well, that's not good," Kami noted, finally removing her hand from his jaw. "You can't be falling asleep at your presentation. And if you're tired, you won't be able to focus. And if you can't focus, then you won't give a good presentation."

"I get it," TK curtly cut her off. "Don't remind me. I'm rehearsing at lunch so I won't forget what I need to say."

Kami purses her lips and eyes the room, scanning the area. "You want something to help you focus?"

TK raised an eyebrow. "Like a coffee? I can't really have caffeine."

"Come with me," Kami whispered, grabbing TK's wrist as she headed for the door.

Confused, TK followed her out of the room, noting that he had five minutes to get back before class started. Kami didn't speak or answer any of TK's questions as she walked them down the crowded hall. Without warning, she stopped in front of a janitor's closet and shoved TK inside.

"Kami, what the fuck?" TK whispered, looking around the small storage room as the light flickered on. "Do you realize how sketchy this is?"

"It's a precaution," she whispered back as she rummaged through her bag. "I've almost been caught a few times, so we need to be careful."

"Careful about what?" TK whisper-yelled through his teeth.

Kami lifted an orange bottle and water bottle from her bag and placed the bag on the ground. "Adderall," she explained. "I know a guy I can get it from for cheap. Helps me pull all-nighters all the time."

TK's eyes went wide. "Kami, you can't be serious. You can't give me your prescription?"

"It's not my prescription," Kami replied, twisting the cap off. "I buy them off of someone." She held the pill out to TK with a serious look on her face. "I don't do them all the time, so it's fine. Just when I really need to do something."

TK looked at her questioningly. Something about this transaction didn't seem right. But he really needed his presentation to work out.

"You don't have to if you don't want to," Kami insisted, still holding her hand out. "I just thought I'd offer."

TK sighed. "One time." He took the pill from her hand and grabbed the bottle of water. "Only because I really need to concentrate on this."

Kami smiled and grabbed her bag off the floor. "You should be good for the rest of the day. Just make sure to get some sleep tonight."

TK quickly swallowed the pill. "Can do," he laughed, handing her back her water bottle.

"Actually, uh, speaking of tonight," Kami interjected. "My parents are going out of town for the night. Wanna come over and just hang out?"

TK raised an eyebrow and smirked, "And your brother?"

Kami moved closer towards TK and ran a finger down his chest. "He's going with them. Something about a doctor's visit out of town." She propped herself up on her toes and pressed her lips gently on his cheek, sending a shiver down his spine. "So what do you say?"

TK wrapped his arms around her waist to hold her up against him. "Sure," he answered, giving her a quick peck on the forehead. "We can celebrate my project approval."

"I'll order pizza."

"And I'll bring a movie."

"Sound like a date," Kami smirked, leaning in for one last kiss before the bell could remind them that they were late for their first class.

* * *

TK's heart pounded as he sat outside the door of his presentation review. He played with his tie, making sure it was straight. He looked over his notes sitting on the chair beside him. The words were already memorized.

After spending his whole lunch period cramming, TK finally had his presentation set. He felt amazing, knowing everything he would need to convince them to let him continue with his senior project. The Adderall that Kami had given him had actually worked better than TK thought it would. When he took it, he just thought he would be able to stay away. But as he began his cramming, he found himself being able to retain all of his notes a lot better than he ever had.

TK grabbed the page again, skimming over every viewpoint just in case. He knew what the board was expecting him to present on, so he needed to be on top of his game if he wanted to convince them. He even bought a small trifold and made some notes on it during lunch as well.

His heart was pounding from nervousness. He really didn't want to have to do alcohol abuse. Imagining himself set up in the gymnasium with a large trifold discussing his own addiction with strangers sent a shiver down his spine.

TK thought back, remembering his brother and the older Digi-destined complaining about this part of their high school career. Joe had been the first, but TK didn't remember much about his project accept it was something medical that helped him get into med school. Matt's involved music as a therapy tool. TK remembered that very well, remembering how frustrated Matt was that they wouldn't accept his idea until three weeks after the idea presentation.

Tai and Izzy had both done something about the Digital World, Tai's most likely about the Digimon themselves while Izzy's was about the programming behind it. TK remembered Sora's clearly, as he and Matt had been interviewed for her project on parental relationships and their effect on their children. Mimi had done a historical analysis of fashion, for what country, TK couldn't remember. Yolei had just done hers the year before. TK remembered the long nights and all the tears that she shed on computer technology in the classroom.

Looking back at what everyone else had done, TK realized he had no idea what the Digidestined his own age were doing. Ken's was probably way over his head, while Davis' was probably about soccer. As for Kari, he didn't even know if they were allowing her to do a project without an idea presentation.

TK looked over his notes, realizing how dumb his idea looked in comparison. All of his friends had something that affected their lives after high school. He struggled to figure out how Victorian marriage and social class were going to a valid part of his life within a year.

Throwing his notes down, TK sighed heavily. He had been so in love with his idea before thinking about his friends. Everyone he had talked to about it told him that the topic fit him extremely well.

He shook his head, grabbing his notes again. "I love this idea," he whispered to himself, skimming over his handwriting. "I love books and I love writing and I love this idea."

He hadn't been lying to himself. There was nothing TK could see himself doing besides something involving writing. What kind of writing, he hadn't quite figured out. He could always be like his mother and pursue journalism. With Tai in college studying international relations to connect the Digital World with the human world, the need for journalist was going to increase, no doubt. But he also loved just to write whatever, so he could see himself as an author, maybe writing a few books about the Digital World. Or maybe he could become a writing professor, teaching others how to love writing as much as he does.

The more these thoughts swam through his head, the more confident he became in his topic. "Yeah, this topic is great," he whispered to himself, skimming over his notes one more time. "It fits me perfectly: one of the greatest writer of all time and kid from a from a broken home."

The door beside him swung open and the teacher inside looked down at him. "Takeru Takaishi," she called, motioning for him to come inside.

As he walked before the panel, he nodded to the group, smiling as he set up the small trifold on the desk.

"Good afternoon, TK," one of the professors greeted him. "I'm already impressed by your presentation material. This is the first student we've had bring a physical model in."

TK thanked them and handed out copies of his topic summary before returning back to his trifold. All three teachers behind the desk looked happy, like they knew exactly what he was going to present on. But as he watched them read his opening statement, he saw two of their smiles fade and a confused look replaced them. Only one teacher seemed even more intrigued than before: the advanced literary studies teacher TK had his whole high school career.

Glancing over his trifold one more time, TK took a deep breath. "Good afternoon. My name is Takeru Takaishi and I will be presenting my idea for my senior research project: 'Till Death Do Us Part: a literary analysis of Charles Dickens and marriage in Victorian Era England.'"

* * *

TK energetically walked down the street, not able to stop the smile from spreading across his face. His cell phone rang in his pocket.

"Hey, Matt," TK cheerfully answered.

"That's a lot better sounding than last night," Matt laughed, relieved to hear TK at least sounding better. "I thought I should call and see if you were okay after last night."

"Oh, I haven't been better," TK responded, waving to some classmates who had passed him. "I had my senior project idea presentation today."

"And?"

"My idea was..." TK paused, allowing for the suspense to set in. "Approved. I can start on my journey of reading books for a living."

"That's great, TK," Matt replied, happy to hear his brother was happy. "I hope the idea was better received than mine."

"Ehh, it took some convincing," TK laughed. "You know what they wanted me to do."

"All too well," Matt sighed.

TK arrived at his apartment complex. "Okay, well, I have to go get ready for tonight."

"Tonight?" Matt asked intriguingly. "What's tonight?"

"I have a date tonight," TK proudly answered as he entered the elevator.

"A date?" Matt questioned, a hint of confusion in his voice. "Do you really think dating is a good idea right now?"

TK's smile faded as he remembered the full extent of his situation. "I know, I know," he sighed. "But Kari wants us to have some resemblance of normality. That's why I'm here and she's not."

"I don't know," Matt said. "It just seems like a slap in the face to her."

"But it's not," TK firmly reminded. "I'm not nor was I ever dating her."

"Regardless," Matt cut him off. "Shouldn't you be focused on better yourself? Your therapist said to focus on yourself, not girls."

The elevator opened up on his floor and TK had lost the happy energy he had when he entered. "I'm just trying to be a normal teenager," he explained as he walked towards his apartment. "I'm just trying to get to know this girl, okay?"

Matt held a prolonged silence before releasing an audible huff. "Okay," he conceded. "Just don't knock this one up, too."

"Go fuck yourself, Matt."

* * *

TK knocked on the door with the hand that wasn't carrying the pizza box. The sun was starting to set behind him as he stared at Kami's apartment door. It was about 5:30 when TK had picked up dinner for the both of them.

Before he could even get a word in, Kami threw the door opened and asked, "How did the presentation go?" Her hand grabbed TK's free one and dragged him inside. "I wanna know all about it."

TK laughed, setting down the pizza box on the nearest table. "Everything went great. Thanks to you, I was able to get all my material set during lunch and my pitch was perfect."

Kami grabbed his other hand, now that it was free, and rose up on her toes. She gave him a quick kiss. "I'm glad I could help," she smiled, finally letting go of TK. She started walking towards the kitchen before twisting back around. "I'll get some plates and drinks. You pick out a movie?"

TK eyed the stack of DVDs on the coffee table. "Can do," he replied, taking a seat on the couch.

He noticed the stupid smile he had on his face since the door hadn't faded. He didn't know why. Something about the day just felt right. Here he was, watching movies and eating pizza with a girl, stuff that he was supposed to be doing at his age. There was no threat of Digital attacks, no drug use, and no pressure. TK didn't understand why he felt so calm around Kami that quickly. When he was with her, there was no pressure to do anything from his old lifestyle, even though he knew she still went out and partied and drank. She never forced him to go with her and never tried to pry out of him why he didn't drink. He thought maybe she knew what had happened the school year previous. If she did, she never made it known to him.

TK finally settled on a gory horror movie and slide it into the DVD player as Kami came back in, plates and wine glasses in hand. "It's a celebration. I figured my parents wouldn't mind if we used the wine glasses."

Sitting back down on the couch, TK tried to hide the concerned look on his face as she set down the glass in front of him.

"Don't worry," she assured, picking up on his concern. "It's sparkling grape juice. I picked some up on the way home from school. I know you don't drink."

TK rolled his eyes playfully, relieved that she hadn't forgotten. "How cheesy," he smirked, taking a sip from his glass.

"Hey, I've got some white wine, too, if you wanna make this less cheesy," Kami joked, sitting down next to TK and taking a slice of pizza for herself.

TK threw his arm around her shoulders and kissed her forehead. "This is fine."

* * *

Halfway through their second movie, Kami shook herself from under TK's arm. "Bathroom break?" she asked, nudging her head towards her glass. "Two glasses go through you fast."

TK laughed and readjusted himself so she could get up. "Go pee for me, too," he joked.

"Rude," she called back, shutting the bathroom door behind her.

TK laughed, stretching out his legs. He hadn't moved from his spot since Kami had switched out his horror movie with a rom-com once it was done. TK noticed how Kami reacted during movies: she would try to guess what would happen, even if she was usually wrong about it. TK and Tai did that to Matt all the time when they were younger. He let out another laugh remembering how mad Matt would get because they were talking.

The glass in front of him was empty and TK found himself thirsty again. He eyed Kami's drink, noticing it was over halfway full. Kami had refilled it at the start of their second movie.

A mischievous smirk fell over TK's face. Without thinking, he reached over and grabbed Kami's glass, chugging what was left. Once he was done, he set it back down, laughing to himself wondering how long it would take her to notice.

Something didn't taste right about Kami's drink. TK's smirk fell to confusion as he tried to figure out what was different.

The door to the bathroom opened and Kami walked back to the living room. "Okay, are you ready to..." her sentence drifted off as she noticed the confused look on TK's face. "TK, what's wrong?"

"I think something might be wrong with your grape juice," TK noted, pointing over to her glass. "I finished it, wondering when you would notice, but something didn't taste right."

Kami couldn't hold back a giggle. She walked towards the glasses and picked them up. "That's because mine was white wine," she laughed, turning towards the kitchen.

TK's eyes shot open, thankful that she had left. Wine. He had drunk wine. His first drink of alcohol in six months. His mind raced, the only words flashing across reading "you fucked up" over and over.

Kami came back out with the glasses and placed them down on the table. "Well, I guess since you tried my alcohol, I could give you a glass of your own."

TK looked down at the drink. He felt his heart race and his mind still read "fucked." He was normally able to object when alcohol was offered to him, but he had already had some.

"It's only thirteen percent" Kami assured, giving him a soft smile. "You're not going to get drunk unless you have like five glasses."

Numbers started to crunch in his head as they had before. Thirteen percent was a lot less than what he would do. His mind slowed from "fucked" to "rationalize." Normal people drink wine for the taste, not to get drunk, he rationalized. Normal people drink wine to celebrate, he rationalized. Normal people drink wine, he rationalized. This would be a step towards integrating.

Without a thought, TK picked up the glass and placed his lips on the edge, taking a small sip. He was fine as long as he didn't drink too much.

"What the hell," he smirked. "A glass of wine can't be too bad."

* * *

Birds chirping outside the window woke TK up. His head throbbed at his seat up, not quite ready to open his eyes. A sharp pain ran through his bed, letting him know he slept on it weird.

"Morning, sleepyhead. I made pancakes," Kami's voice rang through the room.

TK's eyes slowly opened, getting his bearings on where he was. He sat on the couch, staring at the TV playing the morning news on mute. He rubbed his eyes, trying to wake up. He hadn't remembered falling asleep at Kami's apartment.

Kami came into the room with a spatula in hand. "Sorry you slept on the couch," she apologized. "When you fell asleep, I couldn't wake you up."

"It's fine," TK groaned, reaching out for the nearest cup. He found his glass from last night and took a drink. Immediately, he gagged, spitting it back out into the glass.

"I don't think last night's wine would be any good now," Kami laughed, taking the glass from him. "I'll get you something. Orange juice? Milk?"

TK threw his face in his hands, groaning even louder. "Just some water, please." He wasn't hungover; He knew that much. The pain in his body came solely from the stiff couch he spent the night on. But still, his head hurt for other reasons.

He just broke his sobriety streak.

TK threw his body back on the couch, thankful that he remembered everything from the night before. Two glasses of wine were all it took for him to get mildly drunk, an amount TK remembers would barely affect him before. Despite his indiscretion, he did have to compliment himself for stopping at two.

Kami popped her head out from the kitchen and him breakfast was done. TK slowly stood up, stretching out his back, before heading towards the table. Kami had a few pancakes laid out, with the glass of water TK requested sitting beside his plates.

"I still haven't gotten the hang of how much batter makes how many pancakes," Kami admitted with a joking smile on her face. "I hope your hungry."

TK could help but smile as he felt his stomach rumble. The clock on the stove read 10 A.M., reminding him that he hadn't eaten in over fourteen hours. He was starving.

Thanking her for breakfast, TK began to eat. It was weird. He didn't feel sick like he normally did after drinking. Was this how normal people felt the next day when they didn't go overboard?

"Oh, uh," TK rambled, a small blush crawling on his cheeks. "Sorry I fell asleep. I really didn't mean to."

Kami waved it off, a full bit of pancake in her mouth. "Don't worry about it. I fell asleep, too," she mumbled between her bites.

Before TK could get another word out, his phone rang from the coffee table. "I should go answer that," he excused himself, rushing towards his phone.

"Hello?" TK answered, not looking at the caller ID.

"TK, where the fuck are you?" Kari's voice seethed through the phone.

The teenager's heart skipped a beat at the angry tone in her voice. He hadn't expected to here from her, let alone that angry in the morning. "I-I'm at a friend's house," he answered cautiously. "Why do you ask?"

"Because your _mother_ had been calling me and your brother since midnight last night wondering where you are. She's convinced you ran away to see me and won't believe me otherwise," Kari explained, more annoyed than TK had heard her be in a while.

TK sighed, realizing he must have slept through his mother's calls. "I'm sorry she did that, Kari," he apologized. "I guess I was so tired I didn't hear my phone ringing."

Kari exhaled loudly through the other end of the phone, seeming to have calmed down. "It's okay. As long as your safe. You had me worried, Takaishi."

Worrying Kari hit him harder than worrying his mother, knowing why Kari wasn't at home in the first place. "I'm sorry, Kari," he apologized again, more disappointed in himself this time. "I really didn't mean to worry anyone, especially you. I know worrying isn't good for-"

"Regardless," Kari cut him off, annoyed at where she knew he was taking that sentence. "Call your mom and brother back, and get home."

"Yes, ma'am," TK replied, a small smile appearing across his lips.

The phone was silence as TK waited to see if Kari had anything else to say. The two hadn't talked in a while, so hearing from her was nice, regardless of how brief it was.

"Other than that, is everything okay?" he asked, trying to keep the topic as broad as possible. Kari hated mentioning anything that had to do with the baby, and TK didn't want her to hang up that quickly.

Kari waited a few second before calmly responding, "Everything's great. The doctor said he's never seen a healthier baby."

TK smiled again. "And you?"

Kari took another pause before answering. "I'm okay."

"Just okay?"

"Well, I could be better," she admitted, adding in a light laugh. "I am only seventeen. Circumstances could be a little different."

TK quietly laughed with her. "You're not wrong."

"I'm usually right," she joked.

It felt comfortable. TK missed joking around with his best friend. He turned his head back towards the kitchen, seeing Kami start on her second pancake. For a moment, he felt bad for doing this to her, but for each "her," he wasn't sure.

Kari interrupted his thought. "Okay, finish up whatever you're doing and get home. I'm sure your ass is grounded."

TK playfully rolled his eyes. "Your probably right. My mom's been crazy since May."

Before TK could ask to talk to her again, Kari quickly interrupted, "Can I call you sometime this week? Just to, you know, catch up?"

TK was taken aback. Normally their phone calls ended with TK asking to call and Kari saying there wasn't a need to. But now Kari was asking to call him? She always acted like she wanted TK as far away from her as possible.

"Yeah, sure," TK answered, surprised. "Are you sure you're okay?"

"I just miss you."

TK smiled at her confession. It had been such a long time since he had heard her say that that he was beginning to think she didn't. "I miss you, too," he replied. "I'll call you later?"

"Sounds good."

The phone cut off and TK stared down at it. The perfect feeling he had felt from last night had dramatically dropped with two glasses of wine and one phone call. He looked over at Kami, still engrossed in her breakfast, and then back to his phone. The smile on his face faded. Nothing felt right. He shouldn't be here with Kami, getting attached to her. He knew he should be with Kari.

But Kari didn't want him there. She was just starting to want him to be a phone-call away. He shook his head, remembering that as he walked back to the kitchen.

"Is everything o–" Kami began to ask before being stopped by TK's lips. He held her there, keeping her jaw in his palm for as long as he could.

He knew he missed Kari a lot and that phone call didn't help those feelings. But he knew nothing was ever going to happen between him and Kari. Regardless, he wasn't sure if he even wanted anything to happened between him and Kari. Kari was his best friend; he wasn't sure if the feeling was more than that, even considering the baby they had made.

If anything, he wanted that perfect feeling with Kami to come back.

Finally pulling away, TK sat back down in his seat and took bite of his pancake, looking over at a flustered, pink-faced Kami. He made a mental note to call Kari sometime that week, but for now, he was going to do what Kari wanted him to do: be a normal teenager.

"Sorry about that. Where were we?"

* * *

 **AN: School is finally over, so I had some time to write this. Sorry if it seemed rushed. I did kinda rush it, but that's to get to the good parts to come up. I have this story pretty much mapped out across the rest of the chapters, so this story should be finished this summer. Thank you for everyone that has stuck on with this, despite the long hiatus.**


	8. Don't Threaten Me With A Good Time

_Champagne, cocaine, gasoline  
And most things in between…  
Raise hell and turn it up."  
Don't Threaten Me With A Good Time – Panic! At The Disco_

* * *

TK took a deep inhale, taking a drag of his cigarette before flicking the ashes off the side of balcony. He hated the taste of cigarettes; he always had, even before rehab. He never understood how his friends could stand it.

Standing outside of his apartment, TK sighed and took another drag. Cigarettes sobered him up when he was only a few drinks deep. He learned that in the past three weeks he had with Kami.

The late September air bit at his nose as he finished the last drag. The breeze was nice and took away the smoke from his clothes.

He felt better since leaving Kami's that evening. He smiled thinking about it. Since he had accidentally spent the night, TK had spent every Friday and Saturday evening with her, watching movies over glasses of wine or Jack and Cokes before Kami would head out for whatever party was going on that evening and TK would go home, not wanting to put himself out there anymore than he already was with a just a few drinks. While he let himself have a few, he knew better than to go to a place where alcohol was abundant.

TK flicked the cigarette over the balcony and licked his lips, thankful that he had discovered to mask the scent of alcohol on his breath. Since he returned from rehab, TK noticed that his mother had picked up an ability to smell alcohol on someone's person. She had done it a few times to Matt when he came over to check on TK after playing a gig with a beer or two. TK even remembered one time she called him out on a glass of wine Matt drank before dinner.

He rolled his eyes at the thought. His mother was just lucky, he knew that. But still, he wasn't taking any chances.

TK rummaged in his pocket for his key, still trying to see if he could taste the rum in his mouth. His head was a little dizzy from the liquor, but nothing he couldn't play off. As he opened the door, TK couldn't help but be proud of himself. He was able to enjoy alcohol and not get blackout drunk, especially when it wasn't long ago that getting blackout drunk was the only reason TK had for drinking.

TK shut the door behind him and slid his shoes off. "Mom, I'm home," he called out, listening to his voice echo in the entryway.

"In the office," his mother answered. TK couldn't help but noticed a chirper tone in her voice. It was unusual for her while she was in the office. Her office time was spent slaving away over article for the newspaper. TK learned quickly that if his mother was in her office room to not disturb her until she came out herself.

"Oh, TK, can you come here for a second?" his mother asked.

TK raised an eyebrow and walked into the office, shedding off his jacket. "Yeah, Mom?"

His mother sat at her desk with her laptop open. She moved her chair out of the way and smiled at her son. "Look what I found today," she said, smiling at her son. "I thought maybe it would interest you."

TK leaned down and read the page she had pulled up. "It's an internship… for your newspaper."

"Now, I know that you may not want to go into journalism and that's alright," Ms. Takaishi began, holding her hands up defensively. "But I know you're interested in writing, and an internship at a newspaper looks really good on a resume."

TK skimmed it over, scrolling down through the whole text. They were looking for high school seniors with free afternoons with specific writing-centered qualifications. He fit all the criteria. Yet, he was skeptical. "Why are you wanting me to work with you?" he laughed, trying to hide his skepticism. "You live with me. You see me enough as it is."

His mother grabbed his hand, forcing TK to turn from the computer screen to her. "I just want to help you," she explained. "You're graduating next semester, you don't have work experience, and I'm worried about how you look on paper."

TK bit the inside of his cheek. He knew she was right. The work experience he was going to put on his resume was shot after he went to rehab for the whole summer. And he knew that an essay about overcoming alcoholism wasn't going to look impressive. But still, something seemed off about this. If she wanted him to have work experience, she would have told him to find a job.

"But why do you want me to work with you?" TK asked curtly.

His mother's smile fell. "What do you mean why?"

"Well, not that I don't appreciate the tip, it just seems a little strange that you would want your son interning for the company you work for."

"I just want to help you, TK."

"Help me or spy on me?"

His mother remained silent. TK knew why she wanted him at her work. She was still worried about him and wanted to make sure he stayed out of trouble. She knew about how often he hung out with Kami, but she hadn't met her and couldn't trust her. TK knew she wanted him to be within walking distance, just to keep him out of trouble.

"Look, I know for some reason you still don't trust me," TK sighed, trying his hardest to be polite despite how frustrated he was. "I'll definitely apply and I'll do the internship if I get it, but you're not going to do me any favors by watching over me like a hawk. I get the hint; I'll look for other internships and jobs, just in case this doesn't work out."

His mother nodded, returning back to her computer screen with a disheartened look on her face. "TK, this is hard," she admitted. "You were always the sweetest kid. For everything mischievous your brother did, you always counteracted it with some act of kindness. The mothers in your playgroup always commented on kindhearted you were. Even the mothers of your basketball team told me how helpful and compassionate you were."

For as touching as her speech was, TK couldn't help but notice something a bit off with her wording. "Were?" he repeated curtly.

His mother exhaled. "I don't think 'sweet' and 'kind-hearted' are words used to describe an alcoholic seventeen-year-old," she bluntly said.

TK felt as though he were punched in the gut. Since he was admitted to rehab, his mother had some and said some rude things towards her son. He brushed off every time he came home and his stuff was out-of-place after she searched it. He tried not to let every insult towards his situation bother him. But for some reason, the words his mother just said to him hit him the most.

"Alcoholism and being kind are not parallel entities," TK said. His face was stoic, unable to make any emotion come to his face.

"I'm sorry, TK," his mother apologized hastily. "I just can't see you as my sweet baby boy. You have an alcohol addiction, you've done cocaine, and you have a baby on the way with a girl you're not married to or even dating. All that and you haven't even graduated high school."

TK had had enough. He turned away from his mother and started to head towards his jacket on the floor.

"Takeru, wait," his mother insisted, grabbing his wrist. "I still love you."

"Spare me," TK seethed, forcibly shaking his hand away. His face was still nonreactive as his body shook with anger. He picked up his jacket off the ground and casually threw it on, trying not to act as mad as he was. He had pulled on his first sleeve, his pack of cigarettes fell on of his pocket and on to the ground. TK stopped for a moment, wondering if he should dive down and pick them up before his mother had a chance to see them. But remembering what she had said to him, he really didn't care. She had a long list of reasons to not trust her son; why not add to it?

"So that's why I smelled smoke on you," his mother said, monotoned.

TK didn't even turn around to address her. He bent over and picked up the pack before heading towards the entry of the office. "I'm staying with Matt for a while. I'll come back my stuff in the morning."

His mother didn't respond, and if she had, TK blocked it out. He headed towards the door, feeling for his phone in his back pocket and then his lighter in the other jacket pocket. He slid his shoes back on before slamming the door behind him. He reached into his pocket and pulled out the packet.

"I need a cigarette," he whispered to himself. He put one in his mouth and then flicked the lighter, shielding the flame from the wind. Once it lit, he took a drag and walked towards the stairs.

"No," he whispered again, shaking his head after a long drag. "I need a drink."

* * *

TK rang the doorbell of Kami's apartment. He forgot to call her, but he knew the only ones home that night were her and her brother. Neither one of them would turn him away.

The door slowly swung open. Kami looked at him questioningly. "TK, what are you–"

Before she could finish, TK threw himself inside. He grabbed below her jaw and pulled her up, locking his lips with hers. A surprised yelp escaped from behind her lips before Kami melted into TK's kiss. TK slammed her body against the wall, shutting the door behind him with his free hand. Kami kissed him back, keeping her hands on his wrists and holding back a moan as TK's hand felt its way up her side.

Kami was able to pull a short distance away from TK's lips long enough to speak. "Well, hello to you, too," she panted. "What are you doing here? You know my brother's home and I'm leaving in thirty minutes."

"I'm coming with you," TK answered, not moving any farther than a few inches from her lips.

Kami smiled, stationary against the wall TK pinned her to. "Really? What made you change your mind?"

TK shrugged and kissed her cheek. "You only get one senior year. Might as well go out with a bang." From her cheek, he kissed a line over to her ear and down her neck. He felt a shiver go over her body.

Kami slowly pushed him away, smirking at him as they made eye contact. "Slow yourself, pal," she whispered. "My brother can't know about this."

TK rolled his eyes playfully and then backed away from her. "Understood."

Kami grabbed TK's hand and led him down the hallway. "I've still gotta finish getting ready. You can wait in my room or go to Bradley's."

TK spun her around with the hand she was holding him with and gave her a quick kiss. "I'll stay with you. I can't kiss your brother, can I?"

Kami laughed and began leading him down the hall again. "I mean, you can, but I think that would cause more rumors than me and you."

Once they got to Kami's room, TK threw himself down on her bed and watched as Kami finished applying her makeup. "Help yourself to drink," Kami said, waving over towards her dresser. "I've got shitty vodka, fruit punch, and coke."

"Mmm, shitty vodka, my favorite," TK joked, hoisting himself off the bed to go make a drink. "Got any shot glasses?"

"Shots already?" Kami laughed. She kept her focus on the mirror as she applied eyeliner to her waterline. "Bedside table, bottom drawer."

TK picked up the two glasses he liked the most and set them down next the vodka bottle. Grabbing a bottle of coke from the six-pack, he spun the top off the liquor and poured three shots into the plastic bottle. Even out of practice, TK could still eye a shot.

"Have you made yours yet?"

"Not my to-go bottle," Kami answered, applying a sparkly brown eyeshadow. "I've just been drinking from my mug. Can you make me one? Three shots?"

"Coming up," he responded, and repeated the process he had done with her.

TK took a sip of the drink he made and felt a rush of feelings come back to him. While he had been drinking with Kami for a few weeks, they had all be drinks for a calmer occasion. Vodka and coke was TK's party drink. He hadn't had a taste of it since before rehab. After the day he had, it took everything in him to not chug the drink in her room.

After taking a drink, TK looked over at what Kami was doing. "Just one more thing," she responded, catching his eye in the mirror. Her hand reached over for a few sticks of lipstick. She opened each one and inspected the color. "Which one should I wear?"

TK walked over and took each lipstick from her hand one by one and placing them all back where she picked them up. "None of them. They wouldn't look good on me."

"But you're not–"

TK cut her off and pulled her in for another kiss, holding his hands around her waist. "I can't do that if you wear lipstick. It'll get all over me."

"Good point," Kami whispered before grabbing the closest tinted lip gloss.

TK broke his grip on her and walked back over to her bed. He watched as she put on the lip gloss and then turned around, showing her completed look.

"Hot?" she asked.

"Hot," he agreed. "Shots?"

"Shots."

* * *

The all too familiar sting hit the back of his throat as TK threw back another shot. He slammed the glass back down on the counter and groaned, remembering how horrible that was. Even after two in Kami's room and two at the party, TK still wasn't used to that feeling after his five-month hiatus.

"That's right!" the guy next to him yelled, gathering the attention of the people in the cramped apartment. The boy on his other side grabbed TK's hand and thrusted his arm into the air. "TK Takaishi is back, baby!"

The crowd collectively yelled, celebrating TK's arrival back in the scene. He never really knew he was that popular among the partiers of his school, but he now knew that whatever he did, he certainly made an impression.

"TK, come on, it's your serve," Tyler called from the beer pong table.

"Okay, okay, I'm coming," TK yelled, grabbing his drink of the counter before staggering back to the table. He didn't have the tolerance of his old self and four shots had already gotten him almost-drunk.

With another gulp of his drink, his partner handed him the ball. TK lined up the shot and took it, calling "Island" as he sunk the top cup. The people watching started yelling as Tyler collected the island cup and one other of TK's choosing.

"That's my man," Kami's voice playfully said behind him. He felt a hand grab his butt. Kami smirked back up at him, not moving her hand.

TK wrapped his free arm around her waist. "Well, I guess I've still got a few tricks up my sleeve," he laughed, kissing the top of her head.

Tyler and his teammate threw the balls over, only one landing in a cup. TK took the ball out and handed it to Kami as he down the beer. It was just as gross as he had remembered it.

"Last ball," TK said, eying up his shot. His partner had missed the shot, but if TK could land it in, then Tyler would only have one redemption to keep the game going. He took his eye off the cup and looked over at Kami. Holding the ball out in front of her, he whispered, "Blow on it, for good luck."

Kami did as she was told, giving the ball a light yet somehow seductive blow. TK noticed the spark in her eye as she did it and made a mental note to get that look from her again.

He lined up the shot, and without hesitation, threw the ball, landing it perfectly in the last cup.

Kami screamed in his ear, finally removing her hand from his butt to wrap her arms around his neck. TK didn't even notice Tyler missing the redemption shot. Kami had already began tugging him from the table back into the kitchen before the next round could be set up.

"I call Takaishi next," Tyler's slurred voice rung out through the apartment. TK playfully rolled his eyes, knowing that if Tyler wanted him as a partner, he would have to pry him from Kami's hands.

Back in the kitchen, Kami leaned up against the sink, hoisting herself up to sit on the counter. "You're almost out of your drink," Kami noticed, grabbing TK's bottle from his hand. "Do you want some more? I brought the rest of that six-pack to make mixers with."

TK shrugged indifferently, but grabbed Kami's bag from under the sink where she hid it. Kami took it and started pulling out another coke and the bottle of vodka. TK stood in front of her with his hands on her legs as she mixed his drink for him. "You know, I could have done that," he joked.

"Oh, but you're the beer pong king," she laughed, shaking his drink a little. "The king shouldn't be making his own drinks."

TK shrugged again, laughing. "Touché," he laughed. He took the bottle from Kami and slowly opened the top over the sink, making sure the carbonation didn't fizz out.

"You want another shot before I put this up again?" Kami asked, holding the vodka bottle up.

TK smirked after finishing the first drink of his new mixer. "Hit me, babe."

Kami poured each of them shots and handed the glass to TK. The two clink them together and down them with ease. TK cringes again at the sting in his throat before setting the glass back down on the counter.

"Guess I'm still a little out of practice," he admitted, giving Kami a silly smile.

Kami laughed and placed her hands on top of his on her leg. "Then I guess we'll just have to practice some more," she whispered seductively, leaning in closer to TK's lips. The two slowly kissed. Kami's hands left TK's and moved to his neck as they gently made out in the kitchen.

"Get a room," someone playfully yelled behind them, startling the two teenagers. They stopped and began laughing as Kami threw the sponge from the sink at the person. TK continued laughing as the girl who yelled threw the sponge back and blew Kami a kiss.

"Sorry, she's a teammate," Kami apologized, putting the sponge back where it was. "Now where were we?"

Before Kami could put her arms back around TK's neck, TK backed away, grabbing his drink off the counter.

"First, I owe Tyler a round beer pong," TK said, giving Kami an apologetic look. "Raincheck, for now?"

Kami jumped down from the counter and put her bag back under the sink. She then traced TK's jawline with her finger, making his face follow her as she walked towards a group of her friends. "I'm holding you to that."

TK felt the mix of alcohol and excitement rush to his cheeks as he found himself staring at the back of the shorts Kami had on. It took a lot in him not to grab her hand and take her home right then and there.

A body bouncing on his back interrupted his thoughts and turned his head away from the girl. "TK, come on," Tyler yelled, getting down from his friend's back. "It's us against Thomas and Bradley. We can so take them."

TK rolled his eyes and threw his friend off of him. "We can't beat them if you break my back," he joked, slapping Tyler's shoulder as he led them to the table.

A crowd had gathered around, hearing how TK had been undefeated that whole night. Going game after game without being beat wasn't anything new for him. He was used to consistently winning any game of beer pong he was set up in, although his partner was usually the same person every game. Regardless, TK wasn't worried and took another drink of his mixer.

"Okay, let's get this started," TK said, taking the ball out of the cup. He threw it, landing it into the middle cup of the third row.

The game progressed fairly quick as TK knocked cup after cup out, with little help from Tyler. The other two guys were good; TK knew that as former teammates. Pretty soon, they were down to two and four cups, with TK and Tyler winning.

Bradley was lining up his shot when Kami snuck in behind TK's. "New bet," she called to her brother, getting his attention. "If you miss this shot, I'll do something you wouldn't like."

Bradley looked curious. "Oh, tell me, little sis, what would that be?"

"Guess you'll just have to miss and find out," Kami taunted, slipping an arm around TK's back.

Kami's brother threw his shot and missed all four of the cups. The crowd looked over to see what Kami would do with the bet she just made. The girl shrugged at her brother and then grabbed TK's head, pulling it down into a prolonged kiss. TK dropped the ball he was holding onto the table as the crowd behind them started to shout and whistle at the two.

"Very funny, bitch," her brother laughed as the two teenagers pulled away from each other. "Watch out for her, Takaishi. She's insane."

TK continued to stare down at Kami, unable to say anything. He hadn't been expecting to make out with her in front of a crowd.

"There's more where that came from if you can finish this up," she whispered into his ear, sending a shiver down his spine.

TK's eyes went wide for a second before smirking down at her. He returned back to the game, determined to end it faster than he intended. He threw the ball again, landing one of the two cups left. He felt Kami kiss his cheek as she cheered him on with the rest of the crowd. Tyler missed his shot again, giving the balls back to the other team.

Bradley made one cup, which TK drank, considering how drunk Tyler seemed to be. With the balls back, TK only had one more cup to knock out. He licked his lips and looked at the wall on his right side.

"Trick shot," he called, eying the wall. Without hesitation, he threw the ball and watched it bounce off the wall and into the finally cup. The music couldn't be heard over the debaucherous screaming from the teenagers in the room. To be honest, TK was surprised that his trick shot had worked. Even the two boys competing against him couldn't be mad that he made it.

Kami screamed with the crowd, jumping up and throwing her legs around TK's waist. TK caught her, holding on to her by her thighs as she kissed him again.

"Someone get an Ice!" Tyler yelled, patting TK's back.

TK finally set Kami back down on the ground. As soon as she left his arms, a group of guys threw TK down on his knees. A guy from the team walked into the room with a Smirnoff Ice and TK knew exactly want was going to happen. "Guys, really, you don't have to–"

"Attention!" Tyler yelled, getting the room's attention. The music was lowered and the talking turned to whispered as everyone turned towards the boys. "He's been out of the game for many moons, but he's back and better than ever!"

The crowd cheered at Tyler's speech, causing TK to roll his eyes. Kami held onto his shoulders, smiling at the ritual that was about to happen.

"So, it is my _greatest_ pleasure to Ice the one, the only, one of my best friends, TK Takaishi!" Tyler exclaimed, quickly twisting off the bottle cap. He looked down at TK, who looked back up with a light-hearted glare. "Welcome back, bitch. Now drink, motherfucker!"

Tyler shoved the bottle in TK's mouth and proceeded to lead the room in the chant. It was something Tyler's cousin taught him from his fraternity. They just started doing it about a month before TK went to rehab, so he never had to do one himself.

The crowd around him continued to chant "drink, mother fucker" as TK chugged, trying to ignore the tears coming to his eyes from the carbonation. The burn in his throat wasn't that bad compared to his eyes. But he knew not to stop chugging, remembering the terrible things the guys did to people who stopped mid-Ice.

Kami and Tyler's voices were the loudest in his ears on each side. Kami was still pressed against TK's shoulder, making it harder for him to stay up straight on his knees. He was almost finished when Kami began to kiss his cheek, willing him to hurry up so they can leave.

The bottle was done and the chanting was replaced with cheers as his former teammates slapped his back. Kami kept TK on his knees, taking the bottle away from him so she could move her lips from his cheek to his lips. It was refreshing to taste the coke on her lips instead of the green apple taste from the Smirnoff, so TK continued to kiss her, not even trying to get up.

Tyler's hand smacking his shoulder interrupted the kiss. TK looked up, taking his friend's off to help him off the ground. "Welcome back, bro," Tyler congradulated, fanning his arm over the crowd. "Your kingdom awaits."

TK stumbled standing up, dizzy from having chugged an entire drink. His legs felt weak from sitting on his knees, not helping his standing issue. He wrapped an arm around Kami and kissed her forehead. "I think I'm gonna have to retire the castle, my good man," TK said, winking over at Tyler.

"I'll get my bag," Kami replied, kissing his cheek before returning to the kitchen.

Once Kami was gone, Tyler nudged TK's side with his elbow. "So Kami, huh? Didn't see that one coming."

"Honestly, I didn't either," TK admitted, shoving his hands in his pockets, making sure he had his phone and his wallet. His hand absentmindedly searched for his Digivice, only to remember he had started leaving it at home after rehab.

"I guess all it took to get over Kari was replacing the 'r,'" Tyler joked before walking over to a group of girls who called his name. The two said their goodbyes and parted ways.

Something about what Tyler had said struck a nerve. He wasn't replacing Kari with Kami. Nor was there anything to get over for that matter. TK looked out among the crowd of teenagers. It felt weird being drunk without Kari to call. Kari was there for everything. She was his normal beer pong partner, the only person ever able to beat him. She was the one who made him his drinks, who kissed him when he did something particularly impressive.

Was he just replacing Kari with Kami?

TK shook his head. "Even if we were an actual couple at one point, Kari wouldn't be at this party anyway," he rationalized to himself aloud.

"Because she's pregnant," he remembered in his head.

His heart started racing faster than just the alcohol allowed. How could he be at a party, doing the one thing that led to all of the trouble in his life, while Kari was three hours away carrying his child? TK had a bad habit of forgetting about the trouble he was in, but now he couldn't get it out of his head. He was lightheaded and dizzy just thinking about it. Or maybe it was all the alcohol in his system.

TK looked in the kitchen and noticed Kami chatting with a few of her teammates before she left. He nudged the closest former teammate to him. "If Kami askes, tell her I'll be right back. I have to do something before we leave."

Weaving his way through the crowd, TK found the front door and walked out into the chilly night air. He knew that everyone would be on the balcony porch smoking and not out front, giving him the perfect escape. He reached into his pocket and opened his phone call list. His mother and Matt had called him a few times, probably wondering where he was after their fight. He reminded himself to text Matt where he was so his mother wouldn't call Kari again.

Scrolling through his contact, he found her name and pressed the call button. He looked at the time before pressing the phone to his ear, only hoping that she would be awake at 12:54 in the morning.

The phone rang four times before her voicemail picked up. "Hello, you've reached the voicemail box of Kari Kamiya. Leave a message after the beep."

The beep played, but TK didn't know what to say. He certainly couldn't tell he that he was drunk. He couldn't tell her he felt like he could be replacing her, which was the fear that made him call. He and Kari weren't like him and Kami. At least, TK didn't think they were. There was nothing that TK could say, nothing that he had planned to say if she had answered.

So instead, TK said nothing and ended the call. He didn't know why he felt the need to call her. In his current state of intoxication, he was just habit. Even so, he knew she wouldn't be able to come and get him. Kari wouldn't be able to save him.

So why did he feel bad enough to call her?"

TK sighed, reaching into his jacket pocket for his cigarette pack. He lit one up and took a long drag, trying to sober himself up enough to figure out what was going on. It wasn't like he hadn't asked himself these questions about Kari before. Since the first time he hooked up with her, TK always questioned what he feelings were towards his best friend: platonic or romantic? He never was able to come up with a true answer, but Kari always convinced him that everything between them was strictly platonic. Even while he was hooking up with Kari, TK had found other girls attractive and tried to pursue them, as she had with other guys. So why did his actions with Kami feel like a betrayal?

He thought about the baby. He never fully rationalized where he stood with his best friend since learning about their child. Even though they weren't going to raise it, TK knew it still made him feel connected to her somehow. But it was more than that. TK felt something strong with her gone before he even knew about the baby. Something else about his best friend was making his head hurt as he tried to move on with his life.

He took another long drag and tried to clear his head of Kari. Since he left for rehab, Kari had made it very clear to him that she did not want to be in his life for the moment, going as far as to try to hide the whole pregnancy from him. He thought back to their first long call, right after he had accidentally fell asleep at Kami's apartment. It was forced, like they were trying to start over again with no first step to start at. The conversation soon picked up, but it didn't fall quite into place like TK had hoped for. Kari shut down at any mention of herself or the baby; She was only interested in hearing about TK. TK, on the other hand, wanted to know how she was doing. The two were at a stalemate.

Kari and TK had called each other back and forth a few times during the weeks since then, but none of the conversations lasted long. TK wished he could have the conversations with Kari like they used to, the ones that went on until the morning light hit their eyes. But it didn't seem like that was going to happen anytime soon.

The front door opened, startling TK from his thought. Kami appeared, hoisting her backpack on her shoulders. "Ready to bounce?" she asked.

TK took his last hit and threw put out the cigarette before tossing it over the balcony. He reached over for her hand and intertwined his fingers in hers, pulling her in for a slow kiss. Kami placed her freehand on the back of his neck as TK snaked his hand between her backpack on the small of her back. The kisses were slow and deep, melodic in their rhythm. Even though they were both drunk, nothing felt clumsy or careless.

Kami finally pulled away and let out a small sigh. "Wanna go back to my place? My parents aren't home and I've got condoms."

TK smiled, remembering to have seen them in her bedside drawer when he got her shot glasses. "Whatever you wanna do, babe," he replied, kissing her cheek down a trail to her neck, feel her shudder and gasp. All thoughts of Kari had slipped through his mind as Kami melted in his touch.

While he may not know what he was with Kari, TK knew exactly what he was with Kami, and for now, that felt right.

* * *

 **AN: This came out very quickly and I'm pretty happy with it, to be honest. I got to cover more of TK's issues with his mother and dive deeper into his problems. The next chapter is the one I've been waiting to write. I hope you enjoyed this and will enjoy what I have to come.**


	9. She'll Always Have A Part of Me

" _I like her 'cause she's smart, headstrong and independent,  
She puts me in my place, but I don't know where I stand."_

 _A Part of Me – Neck Deep_

* * *

"Have you talked to Mom yet?"

TK sighed, throwing his backpack on the ground. "I can't even get in the door without this question? No 'Hi, TK, how was school?'"

Matt huffed from the kitchen, waiting for his brother to come find him. "Hi, TK, how was school?"

TK walked into the kitchen and noticed Matt with his back turned to him, stirring something on the stove. "School was fine, Matt. I even aced a calculus test."

"Proud," Matt replied, switching spoons to stir another pot. "Now, have you talked to Mom yet?"

TK sighed again, throwing himself down into a chair at the table. "No, I haven't," he answered. "She tried calling me at lunch today, but I didn't answer. I was texting Kari."

Matt put his mother aside for a moment, noticing something strange. "You were texting Kari for your whole lunch period?"

"Yeah, it was weird," TK said, tapping his fingers on the table. "She texted me during my class before lunch. I figured it was something important and she'd call me, like she normally does, but she didn't. She just texted me the whole time."

"About what?" Matt asked. He pointed towards a bottom cupboard by the table. "Pull me out a few containers and lids."

TK did as he was told and brought them to Matt. "I don't know. She just kept asking how I was doing, and about you and the rest of the us. It was really just a bunch of small talk, not that I minded that much, to be honest."

Matt let out a small laugh. "Kari was always kind of a worrier. Her not knowing what everyone's up to is probably driving her crazy."

"I guess," TK shrugged, and jumped up on the counter next to Matt's cooking. "What are you doing anyway?"

"Well, I don't know how long you'll be staying with me," Matt said, filling up a container with pasta and sauce. "But I'll be gone all weekend. My band has two gigs out of town, so we'll be staying overnight." He smirked over at his brother, hand open for a lid in TK's lap. "I know you can't cook for yourself, so I'm meal prepping."

"How… wifely?" TK joked, handing Matt the lid.

"I did this with Dad all the time growing up, when I knew he was gonna have some late nights that week," Matt shrugged. He popped the lid on the container and started on the second one. "I hope you don't mind pasta."

"It's your specialty," TK laughed as he watched Matt work. He had always been thankful to have Matt as an older brother. For everything he didn't know how to do himself, Matt did. His older brother was always there for him when he needed it, from the Digital World to rehab to his recent fight with their mother. TK knew that if something ever went wrong, Matt would be there to help him make it better.

"Now your ass off the counter and call Mom," Matt playfully demanded, shoving his brother off the countertop.

TK stumbled a bit, trying to regain his balance. The smile on his face faded as he remembered why he was staying with Matt. "Can't I just get a job and pay rent and stay here with you?"

Matt raised an eyebrow at him. "You really want to sleep on a couch until your graduate?"

TK huffed and threw himself back down in the chair he had first sat in. "It's preferable to talking to her."

Matt didn't speak as he placed TK's meals in the fridge. He didn't mind being a refuge for his little brother, nor did he really mind TK staying with him. His brother was one of the few people that he could actually stand to live with. But Matt also knew it wasn't right for TK to hide from his issue with their mother.

Matt walked over to the countertop and grabbed his phone from the charger, along with the charger itself, and shoved it in a bag on the table. "Listen, I know how rough Mom can be," Matt said. "If anyone knows, it's me. I didn't voluntarily talk to her for years after the divorce. But I chose to live with Dad for a reason."

"I know," TK cut him off as he rested his head defeated in his arms on the table.

"Because I knew she could take better care of you than Dad could," Matt continued as if he wasn't interrupted. "I get that she hasn't been the most supportive person, and that she's been a little crazy. But she's your mother and she just wants what's best for you."

"You know what she said to me," TK defended himself, looking up from the table. "She doesn't think I'm a good person and she doesn't trust me."

"Well, you haven't given her much of a reason to lately," Matt bluntly said.

The room went silent with no explanation needed of what the older brother meant. TK hadn't told anyone about his weekends with Kami, or about the party he went to last week. But he knew what he meant regardless of those absent facts.

Matt stood up, grabbing his bag. "My van's here to pick me up. You don't have to do it tonight, but by the time I come back, I want you to have tried to talk to Mom."

TK took a deep breath and exhaled loudly. "Okay."

Matt ruffled TK's hair with his free hand, earning some swats from his little brother trying to push him away. "Don't burn the apartment down while I'm gone. And no parties, got it?"

TK gave his brother a sad smirk. "Loud and clear."

* * *

The only noise in the apartment was the occasional page turn from the books TK had spread across Matt's coffee table. TK sat on the floor, book marking sections of each book that could be helpful in his senior project. Occasionally, he would take the time to jot down the page and line on his laptop.

TK was concentrating. It was a Friday night, but he had no other plans than his project. Kami was out of town with her family, so their movie and drinks date was canceled for that weekend. Some part inside of him felt relieved by it. While nothing was awkward between them, something felt off about their relationship since they had slept together the week before. Kami wasn't TK's first hookup, obviously; nor was he hers. Regardless, something just didn't sit right with him about it.

He shook his head of the thought and picked up his copy of _David Copperfield_ , reading the section about the David's mother's marriage to Mr. Murdstone. He knew that this marriage was going to be the obvious one for his thesis, so he needed to become well acquainted with it.

Fifteen minutes passed until TK looked up at the clock. It was only 5:30. He had been working on his project for an hour, starting directly after Matt left. A yawn escaped his mouth as he stretched his back, realizing how hard sitting on the floor was on his body.

Before he could turn up the volume on the TV for a break, his cell phone rang, interrupting the silence of the apartment. TK jumped at the noise, startled. He stretched his arm out, reaching for his phone on the other side of the couch. Once he grabbed it, he looked at the caller ID and raised an eyebrow.

"Kari?" he whispered to himself before answering the call. "Hey, Kari, what's up?"

Kari didn't say anything on the other end. TK heard some stifled breathing and what sounded like crying. He waited a little longer for Kari to reply before speaking up again.

"Are you crying?" he asked, concerned. "What's wrong? Is everything okay?"

"Um, hey," Kari said between sniffles. "I just… I just wanted to talk to you."

TK didn't buy that. It had been months since he had heard Kari cry. He was starting to think that their situation had made her forget how to cry. He was worried, to say the least. "I know something's wrong," he firmly replied. "Kari, is everything okay?"

She was silent, only letting out a few sniffles and shallow breaths on the other end. TK waited, letting her catch her thoughts. He just knew something was wrong; it was obvious with her.

"Can you come here?" Kari cried, letting herself breakdown on the phone.

"Kari…" TK whispered, taken aback by her bawling. Kari was never one of those people who didn't cry. TK had comforted her when she was crying for years. But something about hearing her cry now felt different. He jumped up from the couch and ran to his duffle-bag.

"I'm sorry. This is short notice. You're probably busy," Kari apologized between shallow breaths. "Forget what I said."

TK threw his laptop and _David Copperfield_ in the bag and tossed it over his shoulder. "No, Kari, I won't forget," he said, rushing to the bathroom to grab some essentials. "You're my best friend and you're crying on the phone to me. I wanna know what's wrong."

"It's stupid," Kari chastised herself. "I'm just gonna hang out now."

"Wait," TK stopped her. He patted the pocket of his bag where he kept his medication and his Digivice, making sure they were in there. "Don't hang up. I'm on my way."

"But TK–"

TK went into the kitchen and grabbed Matt's car keys from their post. "Too late, I'm heading to the car," he said, running out the door. He remembered to lock the apartment behind him before sprinting towards the elevator of Matt's apartment complex. "You asked me to come and I'm coming."

"But TK–" Kari tried to interrupt, more forceful this time.

"That's what best friends are for," TK reminded her as he pressed the button on the elevator that took him to the parking garage. "I'll see you in three hours."

* * *

TK had fallen asleep on his first trip to visit Kari, but he had kept the address Tai had given them and punched it into the GPS in Matt's car. He'd have to apologize for taking it without his brother's permission, but he knew the situation was important.

Three hours had passed fast as TK's brain raced with what could have gotten that reaction out of Kari. There were unthinkable things, like a miscarriage, that TK tried to push out of his mind. Regardless, her crying made TK sure he needed to be there that weekend.

The GPS told him to turn the car down a long driveway, the one TK remembered led to her grandmother's house. His stomach flipped and turned as he drove closer. He didn't know why he felt anxious. He just knew that Kari needed him, so he was going to be there for her.

The house came into view and TK threw the car in park in the driveway. He grabbed his duffle-bag from the passenger seat and locked the car, staring at the house in front of him. Kari was inside and he knew he should run in and make sure she was okay. But his feet were planted. He hadn't seen Kari in over two months. Only recently was he talking to her consistently and with her willing participation.

He shook his head, forgetting all of that. No matter what was going on between them, no matter how distant she had been, Kari was his best friend. He needed to be with her.

Slowly, he walked up to the house, where the porch light was on waiting for him. He knocked on the door and waited for a response.

TK didn't get to say a word before Kari burst through the door and threw herself into his chest. He quickly dropped his bag and wrapped his arms around her, letting her cry. He rested his chin on her head and he rubbed her back, not saying a word until she was ready to talk.

"TK," she cried into his chest. "I'm so sorry."

TK shushed her gently, running his fingers through her hair. "Come on, let's go inside. It's almost nine. It's too cold for you to be out here."

Kari nodded, moving her head from TK's chest. She grabbed his hand and led him inside to the living room. "My grandmother's already in bed, but I told her you were coming. She set up the spare room that you stayed in the last time."

"I'll have to thank her in the morning," TK reminded himself aloud.

"Do you want anything to drink?" Kari asked, finally turning around to him so TK could get a good look at her. "I know it was a long drive."

"No, I'm good, thank you," TK replied, looking over Kari as the two stood in the living room. TK watched as Kari wiped a tear away from her reddened cheek. Her eyes were red and puffy, but he figured that was from her crying. Her hair had gotten a bit longer than she normally had it, down to her shoulders, something TK's noticed when he ran his fingers through it. The one obvious change in his best friend was her stomach. Back when he found out, Kari could have easily concealed it with a sweater or a jacket, but now, it was obvious that she was pregnant.

"You don't have to stare," Kari whispered, biting the inside of her lip awkwardly. "I get enough of that as it is."

TK's eyes averted back to her flushed face as he apologized quickly. "Why don't we sit down? I think we have a lot to talk about."

Kari grabbed the remote for the television and turned it off. "Let's go up to my room," she suggested, reaching for her phone on the arm of the couch. "I'm sure you wanna change and get comfortable before this."

TK couldn't argue with her. His back was killing him from the drive and his uniform pants were never the most comfortable clothing item. He nodded and followed her towards the steps, hoisting his bag on his shoulder. TK stood behind Kari as she huffed up the stairs, holding onto the railing. He instinctively held a hand on her back until they reached the top.

Kari turned around, breathing heavier than normal with a small smile on her face. "Stairs suck now," she whispered.

He didn't know what came over him. TK wrapped his arms around Kari's shoulders and pulled her in for another hug, trying to quiet his own laughter. He felt Kari laugh in his arms before pulling away, smiling as she led him to her room.

Kari flipped the lights on as TK shut the door behind them. The last time TK had been in that room, Kari had told him about their child. The vibe of that moment came rushing back to him, but TK tried to hold the smile he had.

"You can get changed in here," Kari said, waving her hand across the room as she sat cross-legged on her bed. "It's nothing I haven't seen before."

TK rolled his eyes, but quickly got changed, thankful to be in sweatpants and not his uniform anymore. He threw on whatever old tee shirt he had brought and turned around to Kari. "Presentable?"

Kari snorted. "I'm sure my grandmother's sheets will think you're a handsome young man."

TK laughed at the playful banter between them. It felt right, almost natural. Kari and TK had been together for over half of their lives. The awkward months between them had been hard.

TK sat down on Kari's bed, leaning up against the wall while Kari leaned on her pillows. This posture didn't sit well with him, causing his face to scrunch up.

"You mind if I just…" TK asked, moving from his seated position to laying on his stomach. Relief washed over his face as he took the pressure off his back.

"God, that feels good," he joked, looking up at her holding in laughter. "I don't know what's going on, but my back's been killing me the past couple weeks."

"I know the feeling," Kari joked, running a hand down TK's lower back. "Right in here is where it hurts."

TK propped himself up on one elbow and reached for the middle of Kari's back. "Mine's like right here. It's probably because I've been sleeping on Matt's couch all week."

Kari moved her hand up TK's back to where he said he hurt, applying a little pressure as she circled her hand around. "Well, I think you've figured out why your back hurts then," Kari laughed, already knowing why TK was staying with his brother.

TK scoffed, laughing at her assessment. But he knew there was more to talk about than aching bodies. "Okay, so tell me why I'm here."

He watched as Kari's smile fell and her hand retracted back. She looked down at her blanket and grabbed the edges, playing with some lose string. "I told you it was dumb and you shouldn't have come," she responded. "I do like that you're here though."

"I like that I'm here, too," TK admitted, turning over on his side to get a better look at her. "You're my best friend and I would do anything for you, you know that right?"

"Of course, I do," Kari said.

"I drove three hours on five-minutes notice, because you sounded like you needed me," he continued. He placed a hand on her thigh, causing her to look over at him. "I would have done that if you were here or back home in your old room."

Tears started to form in Kari's eyes. "I know you would. That's why I called you. You're my best friend, TK."

"Ugh, don't cry," TK begged, sitting up to face her. He took her hands in his, making her look at him. "You've changed so much this year. You've become such a strong, independent person. You aren't the girl that I swore to protect our first adventure into the Digital World."

Kari let out a little laugh as she wiped her cheek. "You're just saying that because I slept with you."

"An added perk," TK smirked, joking. "But seriously," he continued, grabbing her hand again and tightening his grip. "You've always been a voice of reason, someone our whole team could depend on. You care so much about others, but you won't let anyone care about you. And if anything…" His eyes trailed down to her stomach and then back up to her eyes. "I should be taking care of you a lot more than you're letting me."

"TK, don't–"

"Kari, listen to me!" TK interrupted angrily. Kari's hand jumped in his, letting him know he scared it. He sighed, calming himself down. "You're so stubborn. This is my fault, too. You can't just blame this on yourself."

"I'm not," Kari responded, still not moving her hands from his. "I'm just letting you off the hook."

"Maybe I don't want to be off the hook."

"What are you talking about?"

TK wasn't sure of that answer. He was thankful to be able to try to get back to being a normal teenager. His mind ran back to his budding relationship with Kami. He hadn't told Kari about her yet. Something stopped him every time. He thought back to when Kari had called him that first morning he stayed at Kami's. He remembered how he felt when Kari didn't answer her phone before he had sex with Kami. He had been resentful towards Kari, but mostly resentful towards the fact that Kari wasn't with him. No matter how thankful he was for her part in his recovery, I didn't sit well him. It never had.

There was a pause as TK tried to collect his thoughts. "I don't… I don't really know," he admitted, looking down at their hands. "This just doesn't feel right." He looked back up at her confused face. "We never talked about the baby."

Kari slowly took her hands from his. "Yes, we did."

TK ran his hand through his hair and bit his lip, flustered. "You told me what we're gonna _do_ about the baby, but we never talk _about_ the baby."

"That isn't part of your recovery," Kari began, equally as flustered.

"I'm an alcoholic, not incompetent," TK shot back, getting a flinch from Kari with his word choice. "I have to own up to my mistakes, and that includes this baby."

"Stop saying that word," Kari insisted.

"Maybe you need to start saying it," TK replied, frustrated. He looked in her eyes, noticing more tears were forming. He sighed, grabbed her knees, and looked his best friend in her eyes. "We got drunk, we had sex, and you got pregnant. I got you pregnant. You are having a _baby_ , our _baby_."

Kari shook her head, trying not cry. "How are you so calm saying that? We're seventeen. You're a recovering alcoholic."

TK's eyes went wide, taking in what had just passed his lips. "I don't know," he admitted, looking scared. "It's the first time I've try to come to terms with it, too. I guess it's something rehab taught me to do, to be okay talking about bad experiences."

"TK, I can't do this," Kari said, starting to cry. "I miss home. I miss school. I miss talking to Yolei and Sora and Mimi. I miss our brothers arguing. I miss Joe and Izzy and Cody and Ken overanalyzing everything. I even miss Davis's dumb remarks."

"You don't have to miss them," TK reminded, finally getting to the root of Kari's phone call. "You can call them any time. You can come back."

"I can't," she firmly cried. She paused and TK didn't speak. She pushed his hands off her knees. "They can't know about this. No can know about this."

"And why not?" TK asked, frustrated.

"You're not there," Kari whispered, lowering her voice as her eyes focused on the blanket edge that was now back in her hands. "You don't see the looks I get. When I go the doctor's, I'm stared at by these women and their husbands, because they know why I'm there with my grandmother and not you. When I go to this birthing class Michelle signed me up for, I'm the only one in there by myself, and I'm the youngest. Everyone else in there is almost a decade older than me." She paused to wipe a tear that had fallen from her cheek. "I can't even go to the store without someone looking down on me because they know I'm a teenager. I can't handle that from one of our own. I can't handle any of our friends looking down on us for this."

TK calmed down, now understanding why Kari finally cracked. He wanted to apologize. He wanted to hug her. But he did nothing. He could only look at her not looking at him.

"I've been strong and ignored it this whole time, because I knew it was better than dragging you into this," Kari continued, gripping the blanket tightly. "You finding out was something I never wanted to happen, but I'm kind of glad you did. You always know how to make me feel better."

"How can I do that?" TK asked, remaining still in front of her.

"Having a baby is supposed to be happy," Kari said, ignoring TK's question. "You're supposed to think of cute ways to tell your friends, and your parents, and your family. And their all supposed to be excited for you. The 'cute' way my family found out was through my medical report from that day, and no one was excited."

TK flinched, remembering the day that Kari found out she was pregnant. It was the morning after TK overdosed. It was also the day Kari had become distant with him, though he didn't find out why until later.

"You're supposed to have a baby with your husband, or at least someone you're in love with. And he's supposed to be excited, and pick you up and swing you around, and kiss you," Kari continued. She finally looked up at him, her face sad and distraught. "We're not even in love. And when you found out, you seemed less than enthused. Although, I don't blame you for that, considering you were just a week out of rehab and a senior in high school."

"Kari, I do love you," TK rebutted.

"But we're not _in_ love," Kari corrected. "At least, I don't _think_ I'm in love with you, and I don't think you're in love with me."

TK didn't respond, unsure if any answer he could give would be honest. It had been a question swimming in his mind since he began his relationship with Kami, and he still hadn't figure out an answer to it.

"This isn't how I thought it would be," Kari said, wiping another tear from her cheek. "I thought I'd be married and settled down. My mom and dad would be thrilled to be grandparents, because who knows if Tai's giving that to them. Tai would start insisting everyone would call him Uncle Tai once he found out. You and Yolei would be godparents, and the rest of the Digidestined would be happy for me."

"You can still have that," TK reminded.

Kari shook her head, a small smile forming on her face. "It won't be the same," she said.

TK didn't say anything. Instead, he reached out and pulled her in a hug. She cried on his shoulder and he ran his fingers through her hair, like he did when he arrived that night. He didn't know what to else to say. He just kept whispering, "I'm sorry, I'm so sorry," into her ear as she continued to cry.

"You know, it sucks not being able to tell our friends," Kari sniffled, not pulling away from TK's embrace. "But I think worst of all is not being able to tell Gatomon. I wouldn't even know what to say to her."

TK nodded, remembering that he hadn't talked to Patamon at all since he went to rehab. "I know the feeling. I still haven't told Patamon anything."

The two didn't speak until Kari had cried all her tears out of her. She hadn't had a good cry in a while, and being with TK made her feel safe while she did. Somewhere in her crying, TK had moved beside her, allowing her to be more comfortable wrapping her arms around him.

"We've been through a lot tonight," TK whispered, breaking the silence once Kari seemed finished crying. "But we still have a lot more to talk about, don't you think?"

Kari nodded before reaching for a tissue from her nightstand.

"That can wait until tomorrow night," TK decided. "Tomorrow, I'm taking you out."

"On a date or assassinating me?" Kari asked, giving TK a small playful smile. "Because either's fine."

"Listen, if I can't die, you can't either," TK laughed, squeezing her harder in their hug. "We have to acknowledge our mistake and figure out how to deal with it. We've got everything logistically out of the way, but there's still something we need to do."

"What's that?" Kari asked.

"We've gotta get through it," TK answered, smiling down at her. "It's easy for me to say I'm an alcoholic because I've come to terms with the fact that I am. I'm seventeen and an alcoholic. It sucks, but here I am."

"I'm not following," Kari said, confused.

"I'm taking you on one of our friend dates. It's been ages since we've done that," TK explained. "We're going to go do whatever you want tomorrow, and we're going to deal with the fact that you're pregnant and that you're doing something amazing for this couple who want to have a child so badly."

Kari bit her lip, unsure of his plan. "TK, I don't know."

"Kari, just give me one day," TK begged, making his way over to the edge of the bed. "Give me one day to make you happy."

She sighed, looking down at her bed. She was unsure of his plan, but TK had done so much for her in the past, she couldn't turn him down now. "Okay, we'll give it a shot."

TK smiled. "Thank you." He stood up and grabbed his bag from the ground. "I should probably go to my room then. We can get a good night's sleep and head out bright and early."

Kari nodded and wished her best friend a good night before watching him walk out of her room.

TK walked down the hall to the bathroom and quickly filled up a cup of water. He opened up the side pocket of his duffle-bag and grabbed his medication. He popped a pill and downed water. His reflection stared back at him, his face reminiscent of the hard conversation he just had. TK knew he wasn't the authority on perseverance, remembering his relapses the past month. But Kari didn't need to know about that. He was handling himself and now it was his turn to help handle her.

* * *

 **AN: This was supposed to include the next day, as for continuity, I like for each chapter to be about a week or more apart. But this chapter was becoming very long and not encompassing the message of the song I had chosen. So I broke it into two and added another song that fit this section of the chapter better. I apologize for the error in continuity styles.**

 **Also, I tried to proofread this chapter as best as I could, as I'm not always the best at proofreading my own work. I apologize for any errors in writing found.**

 **I really enjoyed this chapter because it allowed me to dive into part of Kari's issue with the situation and why she's very distant with TK. I'm beginning to get to some closure for TK on some of the situations his addiction has caused, and it's been fun. Please enjoy and I will hurry to get part two of this chapter up soon.**


	10. Keep Walking, Sleepwalker

" _Lock these chains, throw away the key  
Tried to stay away, but you grab a hold of me  
She said "Keep walking, sleepwalker, keep walking"_

 _Sleepwalker – Logan Henderson_

* * *

"TK, I still don't think this is a good idea," Kari said, stepping out of the car.

"Oh, come on, Kari," TK laughed, taking her hand as he shut the door behind her. "The sun is shining; the birds are singing." He hopped onto the sidewalk and threw his arms out. "The world is ours to conquer!"

Kari stared at her best friend, refusing to move from the side of Matt's car. Her face scrunched up in concern as an embarrassed blush spread across her cheeks. "Are you okay? Are you drunk?" She reached the backside of her hand out and walked over to him. "You sure you aren't sick? Here, let me see if you're running a fever."

TK playfully slapped Kari's hand away. "Okay, okay, I get it," he laughed. "I'm going a little overboard. But come on, it really is a nice day out."

"It's a little chilly," Kari noted.

"Well, then, what a better day to try out your new scarf," TK mentioned, flicking the bottom edge of the scarf Kari was wearing. "And it looks good with your dress."

Kari let out a small laugh. "Thanks for the fashion advice, TK."

She turned her head around the downtown road they were on. Small hometown shops lined the one-way roads as people meandered down the sidewalk, taking their time deciding which stores to go to. The store windows were beginning to be decorated for the Halloween season, with little ghosts and pumpkins drawn on with window paint. Leaves littered the ground from the trees planted every couple meters, reminding the patrons that it autumn was upon them. Kari turned around to face the street again. Her eyes followed a row of outdoor string lights zig-zagging across the road, strung from columns holding decorative flags about the town.

Kari sighed happily, taking in her surroundings. "This is a quaint little place, isn't it? I haven't been downtown in years."

"Why don't you show me around?" TK asked, placing a hand on Kari's shoulder. She turned around to be met with his gentle smile. "Last night when I made these plans, I didn't know where we were going to go. But your grandmother told me this morning how you and Tai loved coming here when you were younger." He shrugged, releasing her shoulder before putting his hands in his pockets. "I just thought maybe coming back here would cheer you up, at least for the day."

Kari smiled back, feeling her cheeks turn pink at the embarrassment of her grandmother and TK talking about her as a child. Regardless, she was happy that TK had put some thought into where he was taking her. She couldn't remember the last time the two of them spent the day together without getting drunk that same night.

She grabbed his wrist and started down the sidewalk. "Come on," she beamed, looking back at her best friend with another huge smile. "I know a really good coffeeshop, and I know you need a coffee."

TK let out a nervous laugh as he combed his fingers through his hair. "Yeah, no offense to your grandmother, but her morning tea did not do it for me."

* * *

TK and Kari sat at a table in the coffeeshop, people-watching while they waited for their drinks. They watched as old men sat in the corner, all talking about the latest political scandal. A group of moms in bright track suits sat at the other end after unleashing their children to the downtown shops. The two teenagers tried to sit in the middle of the shop to balance out the variety of customers.

"Look on the bright side," TK said, interrupting Kari's thoughts. He pointed over to the group of moms. "At least you're not them yet."

Kari rolled her eyes and smirked as TK laughed. "Hey, look on the bright side." She pointed over the old men, half of who had their face in the newspaper and the other half who were arguing amongst each other. "At least you're not them yet."

TK nudged her with his elbow as the barista brought their drinks to them. Kari had ordered a pink fruit smoothie while TK had a large coffee. They thanked him, and TK immediately dived for the cream and sugar.

"My brother drinks it black, but I don't know how," he laughed, pouring two hazelnut creamers into his drink. "I need at least four creamers for it to resemble something I want to drink."

"Why don't you just drink the creamer?" Kari joked, taking a sip of her smoothie.

TK glared playfully at Kari over his cup while he added in two more. "You wanna criticize anything else I do?"

Kari shrugged. "What have you got?"

TK tasted his drink and decided to add one more packet of hazelnut creamer. He decided to ignore her comment, treating her only to an eyeroll and a fake laugh, followed by a real one. The banter between them felt natural, and that natural feeling felt nice.

TK looked around the shop again, noticing the handwritten signs and the colorful art pieces on the walls. "So, tell me about this place."

Kari sighed, setting down her drink. "Our parents would always bring us here before we left town to go back home. It'd be the first stop of the trip." She pointed to the counter, lined with muffins and bagels. "Our parents would get coffee while Tai and I got to pick something to eat. Tai always loved to try their new seasonal muffins, but I was traditionalist."

As Kari spoke, the barista brought a plate with a giant chocolate chip muffin to their table. He sat it down in front of Kari. She thanked him as he walked away.

"This place has the best chocolate chip muffins," she moaned, taking a bite from her fork. "A trip to Grandma's was never complete without them." She stuck her fork into the muffin and pulled out some, holding it up to TK. "Try it."

TK leaned over the table and took a bite. His eyes widened as the melted chocolate melted even further in his mouth. "Wow, that _is_ good," he agreed, surprised by how appetizing he thought it.

Kari smiled and took another bite. She pointed behind her. "They have a kids' station in the back, set up with coloring books and building blocks. Tai and I spent so much time back there, it was hard to get us back into the car to head home."

TK smiled, listening to Kari go on about old memories with her family. They had been friends for over a decade, but there was still so many things he didn't know about her. The smile on her face was genuine as she pointed out place in the shop that held different stories about her as a child.

It was nice to heard Kari be happy talking about something. Everything they had discussed recently had been serious and sad. Listening to Kari reminiscence made him remember how much he actually missed just being with her, not drunk, not planning to get drunk; just being with her.

Kari had finished her muffin, letting TK swipe a few bites here and there. Kari got up, taking the plate back to the counter. She stood at the table, waiting for TK to get up. "Where to next?"

"I think that's up to you," TK reminded her, getting up from the table. He grabbed both of their drinks and handed Kari hers. "I have no idea where I am."

"There's this bookstore on the other street?" Kari suggested as she led him out of the coffeeshop. "It's got this old-timey vibe to it, and they have the cutest notebooks."

TK laughed at how excited she was about a bookstore. He followed her down the street, keeping a hand in his pockets and a smile on his face.

Kari pointed to a tall tree in the middle of a roundabout at the end of the street. "They decorate that tree for Christmas every year. My grandmother insists we take a family picture there every Christmas." Her hand moved slightly to the left side of the tree. "And that's the branch Tai tried to climb when he was seven, and he fell and broke his arm."

"How festive," TK laughed.

"Tai was crying a lot, but we still took the picture," Kari continued, stopping at the end of the street to look at the tree. "I don't know how I remember that. I was only three."

"There's a lot of things I don't know how I remember," TK agreed, stopping beside her. He looked between the tree and Kari's smiling face. An idea popped into his head.

He grabbed her hand and took off across the street. "Come on!"

"TK, wait!" she exclaimed, following behind him. "You didn't even check for traffic."

TK stopped once he got to the tree and reached into his back pocket. "It's small town. There was nothing coming," he justified as he set down his coffee cup on a bench at the edge of the roundabout. He held onto his cell phone and opened up the camera setting. "I know it's not Christmas, but we can always pretend?"

Kari's face fell into an awkward stare. "TK, I don't know. I really don't wanna document this," she said, alluding to their situation.

"We're not documenting that," TK replied, smiling to try to calm her down. "We're just two friends out having fun."

"I can take the picture for you," an elderly woman sitting on one of the benches said, catching the teenagers' attention. She stood up and walked over to them. "I love seeing a wholesome family photo."

"Oh, ma'am, we aren't–" Kari tried to respond.

"Thank you so much," TK interrupted her, giving her his phone. He came back and put his arm behind Kari's back. "Smile, babe."

"TK, I don't–"

"One, two, three," the woman counted down before a flash went off. Kari had quickly given the camera a soft smile before falling back to her awkward face.

TK thanked the woman and grabbed his phone. He looked at the picture and turned it around to Kari. "Not a bad one, I'd say."

"TK, delete it," Kari pleaded.

TK shoved his phone back in his pocket and took her hand. "Nope, not a chance," he smirked, checking the traffic before crossing the road. "So where is this bookstore?"

Kari huffed and rolled her eyes. "Down the corner," she answered, relenting to TK's stubborn choice for now. TK smirked and followed the direction Kari told him to go, not letting go of her hand. Kari barely noticed, still mad about the picture.

TK turned the corner and saw a sign for the book store. He opened the door for Kari, letting her go in first. The annoyed look on her face melted as she looked around the cramped store. There were several aisles crossing the floor: some with books, some with records and albums. The outer walls held large posters of famous book covers and album art. The whole store smelled like a new book.

TK caught her attention as he walked over the posters on the wall. "Read that one, that one, that one," he listed, pointing to the different books. He stopped at one poster and shuddered. "I've read too much of that one."

Kari followed and read the title. " _David Copperfield_? Isn't he a magician?"

"And a poor British bastard. Surprised I'm the one with the drinking problem and not him." TK added, shaking his head and he turned around the selves in the aisle. He skimmed through some of the book covers, quickly reading over the titles.

Kari went on ahead to the notebook section. She skimmed through a few beautiful covers, looking over the day planners. She reminded herself that she would have to get a new one once she returned to school.

"Kari, look what I found," TK exclaimed, rushing over to her with a book in his hand. "This was my favorite book when I was a child. My mom read it to me so many times, I had it memorized." He laughed, flipping through the pages. "She thought I knew how to read when I was three because of this book."

Kari tilted the book to see the cover and smiled brightly. "Goodnight Moon," she reminisced. "This was one of my favorites, too."

TK stood beside her and flipped through to the last pages. "Goodnight stars. Goodnight air," he read aloud. "Goodnight noises everywhere."

Kari let out a small laugh. "You know, this is probably the book that got you into reading. You wouldn't be who you are without this."

TK smirked down at her, closing the book. "I don't think _Goodnight Moon_ made me an alcoholic teenager."

Rolling her eyes, Kari playfully shoved TK away from her and walked over to the music section.

TK continued to laugh as Kari walked away from him. His laughter died down as he looked down at the cover of the children's book. He remembered sitting on his mother's lap, ready for bed as she read the book to him. Matt would always be in the doorway, not wanting be the seven-year-old who liked to read little kid books, but wanting to hear his mother's voice.

It was the year before the divorce, and most likely the jumping point of TK's problems. While the trauma from the Digital World was his main focus, there were a lot of unresolved issues he knew he had with this parents' divorce. Any memory he had of when his family was together, like his mother reading him the book in his hand, punched him in the gut.

TK looked up from the book and over at Kari, thumbing through some CDs. He knew they could be a family. Being with Kari would be easy. She was someone he could trust, someone he could confide in. She always had his back and he always had hers. They could raise their child together and be the family he didn't have.

He shook his head again and sighed. He knew they couldn't. They were still teenagers and he wasn't even sure of his own romantic feelings towards her. Regardless, he knew he couldn't put their child through whatever dysfunctional family life TK and Kari would give them.

He looked down at the copy of _Goodnight Moon_ in his hand. He didn't think. He walked over the counter and paid for it.

Kari came up behind him, noticing he was buying something. She leaned over his arm and looked at the book. "You're really buying that?"

"Yeah," TK answered, getting his change back. "I don't know why, but I am."

Kari just smiled as TK thanked the man at the counter. She grabbed onto the back of his elbow as the two left the shop. TK looked down in his bag, staring at the cover while letting Kari lead him down the sidewalk. He took another drink of his coffee, finishing it and throwing it away in the nearest garbage can. Kari did the same with her drink.

"It's about noon," Kari informed him, stopping them along the edge of the street. "There's normally some musicians in the park by now. And there's a pretty pond in the center where Tai and I would feed ducks."

TK turned his attention away from the book and back to Kari. "That sounds like fun. But it is around lunchtime. You wanna get something to eat first?"

"TK, I just had a huge muffin like an hour ago," she reminded him.

He blushed, embarrassed. "Yeah, but I don't know how the, uh… the baby throws off your eating patterns." He knew he had to phrase any concern he had about her pregnancy carefully. She wasn't as open about it as he was about his addiction, even with one of the few people who knew.

Kari imitated his embarrassed blush and placed her hand on her stomach for a moment. "I think we're fine," she answered.

TK tried to hide his shock about her phrasing. Kari very rarely ever mentioned anything about the baby in any context other than professional. Instead of questioning her response, he laughed it off. "Okay, just thought I'd ask."

"How considerate," Kari sarcastically snickered. She grabbed his hand and led him through the small crowd of people. "The park's in the center of town, just up ahead."

TK followed her, holding onto her hand to not lose her in the crowd. Once they made it to the park, Kari began pointing out various areas with memories attached to them. TK listened as she remembered family reunions under the pavilion by the playground, flipping a small paddleboat in the pond, and a date she had with a local boy when she was still too young to be dating.

"Wait, he took you to a park on the first date?" TK asked, laughing at the idea.

"Shut up, it was really sweet, considering we were like ten," Kari reprimanded him, still smiling. "That was my first date. He was my grandmother's neighbor."

"I guess when you're ten, there's not really much else you can do," TK joked, throwing his hands behind his head. "Did he take you the candy store, too? You split one of those giant swirly lollipops?"

Kari huffed and smirked, turning around from TK to face the pond, puffing out her chest. "Someone sounds jealous."

"Me? Jealous of him?" TK stopped and turned around, catching her attention. "Kari, he took you out on a park date. I got to fuck you."

Kari blushed and turned back from the pond to him. "One: I don't think that was his objective at the age of ten. Two: you see where that got us." She pointed down to her stomach. "And don't talk so bluntly about it," she joked, walking towards the pond and leaving TK on the sidewalk.

TK scoffed and followed her. "Yeah, like that was my plan."

Kari giggled as she sat down on a bench near the edge of the pond. TK sat down beside her and threw his arms over the back of the bench. "And how do you want me to say it? 'The room was filled with the scent of beer and teenage vomit. Your lips tasted like vodka as I pinned you against the wall, dizzy and disoriented. I held on to your wrists as you planned our escape–'"

"Enough, enough," Kari begged, interrupting his dramatic monologue. "It'd be best if you just didn't say it."

The two laughed as the sound of a saxophone player down the sidewalk from them played. The two were comfortably silent, staring out at the pond.

"TK, can I ask you a question?" Kari said, interrupting the silence. "I've had a great time with you today, and I don't want my question to ruin that."

TK mentally buckled himself in for whatever loaded question he knew Kari was going to throw her way. "Yeah, go on."

"Why were you so adamant about doing this?" Kari asked, returning her gaze back to the pond. "I don't like talking about the baby because it's part of my life that I just want to go away. But whenever I'm with you, you always want to talk about it like it's a lighthearted thing."

TK sighed and stared back out at the pond. "I don't know, Kari. I guess it's because I'm used to talking about hard things now. It helps me process what's going on with me instead of bottling them up like I used to."

Kari was silent for a moment before speaking again. "You would tell me if you relapsed, wouldn't you?"

TK didn't answer. He felt his heart race as his mind tried to piece together how Kari had found out.

When he didn't answer right away, Kari continued, "I appreciate that you care so much about me, but I don't want you to use me as a reason to bottle up something bad you might have done." She faced him, her face stoic. "Did you relapse?"

TK shook his head. "No." He turned to look at her, completely serious. "No, I didn't." He felt bad about lying to her, but he knew that he couldn't tell her. He couldn't make the weekend about him. He drove three hours to comfort her. She needed him to be there for her, not the other way around.

Kari sighed and faced the pond again. "Okay," she responded.

The two remained quiet as they watched the ducks swim in the pond. The sound of little kids running towards the animals on the other side rang out, as their parents followed behind to make sure they stayed out of trouble. People were starting to fill the park as the chilly October noon hit. TK felt a shiver run down Kari's body as she sat next to him. Instinctively, he took his jacket off and place it on her lap.

"You don't have to," Kari said, pushing the jacket off.

"Yeah, I do," TK answered, throwing an arm around her shoulder and pulling her closer. He continued to watch the children across the pond throw bread at the ducks. "Don't want these people in the park thinking I'm a deadbeat baby daddy."

Kari responded with a sigh before resting her head on TK's shoulder. "Thank you for doing this today. I had a lot of fun," she thanked. "Maybe this what we needed to do instead of binge drinking."

TK couldn't help but smile at her comparison. "Probably would have avoided a lot of our problems that way."

Kari laughed, removing her head from TK's shoulder. He looked down to make sure everything was okay and was greeted by her friendly smile. "I mean it. This really made me happy," she said. "But can we cut it short? My feet really hurt and I have to pee so bad."

TK looked at her confused for a second before bursting into laughter. "Sounds like a reasonable excuse. Come on, let's go." He stood up, giving her a hand to help her off the bench. "How about we order pizza and watch a movie tonight?"

"Now you're speaking my language."

* * *

TK took a final long drag before putting out his cigarette on the back porch. Night had settled in and the sound of crickets took over. TK was alone, getting his fix on another bad habit of his before going to bed. He was leaving early in the morning to beat Matt home, remembering how he didn't tell his brother he was taking his car.

Making sure the cigarette was completely put out, TK stuck it in the garbage can outside, not wanting Kari nor her grandmother to find it. He wasn't worried about the smell; he needed to take a shower anyway. The October night was chilly as the wind ran passed his bare chest. He knew not to smoke in the only night shirt he had brought with him.

TK turned towards the door, taking in the cold air one last time. The chill felt nice after the anxious day he had with Kari. She kept insisting that she had fun, but something had felt off the whole day. He shook his head of the thought and walked into the house, locking the back door behind him.

He made his way upstairs and to the bathroom. He had already set some soap and shampoo by the shower. He noticed Kari had placed a fresh towel on the sink for him with a small post-it note.

"You smell," he read the note aloud, laughing and rolling his eyes.

TK turned the shower on, remembering how Kari taught him to work it that morning. He moved his hand under the faucet, feeling for the right temperature before turning the shower head on. He stripped the rest of his clothes off and got in, letting the hot water rush over his face.

TK had always been a fan of showers. They made me feel better after a stressful basketball game and helped sober him up the morning after a party. A shower let him be alone with his thoughts, which wasn't always a good thing.

He thought back on his day with Kari. It was fun and he smiled at the thought of the genuine smiles that crossed her face. But something didn't add up to him. Something didn't feel right.

As he rinsed the shampoo from his hair, a knock came from the bathroom door. "TK?" Kari's voice rang out sheepishly.

"Yeah?" TK answered, equally as shy.

"I hate to bother you, but..." Kari started, as TK heard the door shut behind her. He heard the clank of the toilet lid hitting the back before a heaving noise replaced the sound of Kari talking.

"Oh, god," TK shouted as he quickly shut off the water. He jumped out of the shower and grabbed the towel off the sink, quickly wrapping it around his waist. He dived down behind Kari, taking her hair from her hand and holding it back for her.

Kari tried to swat his hand away before she vomited again. "Stop that; I'm fine," she insisted angrily.

"Aren't you, like, twenty-six weeks? Shouldn't morning sickness be over by now?" TK asked, putting his free wet hand on her back.

"It's not morning sickness," Kari huffed, reaching up for the handle. She turned herself around, leaning against the sink cabinet. "It's just nausea. It happens sometimes."

"Great timing," TK groaned, trying to laugh to lighten the mood. "Couldn't you have vomited when I wasn't naked?"

"Trust me; this isn't what I wanted either," Kari huffed back. She reached for the edge of the sink, trying to hoist herself back up. TK grabbed her other hand, pulling her onto her feet. "Sorry I interrupted your shower," Kari apologized, cupping some water in her hand from the sink to rinse out her mouth.

"It's whatever. I was pretty much done," TK said, feeling his hair for any more shampoo residue.

Kari rinsed out her mouth and reached for the door handle. "Well, uh, goodnight," she said, leaving TK wet and naked again.

"Night," TK responded. He picked his clothes up off the floor and reminded himself to get the rest of his shower stuff in the morning. He shook his head, shaking some water from his blond hair, secured his towel around his waist, and went to the guest room he was staying in.

Once in his room, TK quickly dried off and put on a pair of sweatpants. He opted to remain shirtless for a bit, letting the heat from the shower dissipate from his body, but also remembering that he only brought one shirt he could actually sleep in.

He lay down in bed and grabbed _David Copperfield_ from the side table, skimming over the page he had bookmarked. His eyes glanced over the words, but didn't take anything in.

He was worried about Kari.

TK checked the time on his phone. It was about ten. He had a text from Kami, a short message saying she missed him. TK opened the message and positioned his thumbs to respond, but he didn't move. He couldn't respond to her, not while Kari was in the next room.

He groaned, sitting up in bed. He slid his phone into his pocket and walked back over to his bag. His hand searched in the small pocket for his pill bottle. Grabbing it, he realized he didn't have anything to take it with. He groaned again, tightening his grip on the orange bottle, and walked out of the room and towards the kitchen.

TK filled up a glass with water and instinctually grabbed another glass. He knew that throwing up caused dehydration and Kari could use a glass of water herself. He put his pill bottle in his other pocket before returning back upstairs with the two glasses.

He used his foot to knock on her door. "Hey, come let me in. My hands are full."

Kari quickly opened the door, confused as to why TK was knocking. He held a glass out towards her with a friendly smile. "Drink," he insisted. "You need it after vomiting."

Kari blushed, but took the glass anyway. "I'll just be up peeing half the night, you know?" she said, moving from the door to let him in.

"Better than being dehydrated," TK reminded, setting his own glass down to reach his pill bottle from his pocket.

Kari sat back down on her bed and stared at his bottle. "If you say so." Neither spoke as she watched TK take his pill like it was nothing. "So those are what keep the nightmares away?"

"Huh?" TK asked, turning around to face her. He looked at the orange bottle in his hands and turned it to read the label. "Yeah, these are them. They're supposed to be for blood pressure or something, but doctors say they help with PTSD stuff, too."

Kari took a drink from her glass and sat it on her bedside. "What else do you have to do?" she sheepishly asked, not wanting to prod into dangerous territory.

TK shrugged and set the bottle top of her dresser drawers. "Well, I have this pill at night, anxiety meds for the morning, therapy twice a week; although that should be reduce to once a week soon." He leaned against the dresser, counting off the list with his fingers. "I have to go back to the rehab center once a month for an evaluation so I can get my prescriptions. I wasn't allowed to go anywhere without my mom or Matt, but that was just my mom's rule."

"That sounds like a lot," Kari said.

"Ehh, it's not too bad," TK waved off, taking another drink. "It kinda sucked in the beginning, but you just get used to it, I guess. And my mom started trusting me to be on my own a bit more, but that's probably over now." He remembered the fight he had with his mother and quickly tried to get it out of his head.

"TK, talk to me about it," Kari asked, patting a seat next to her on her bed.

"It's pretty boring, Kari," TK replied, unsure. He knew exactly what she meant by it, and he wasn't sure whether their drinking days and the aftermath were topics that they should go down. "I don't think you'll wanna know."

"I wanna know everything," she insisted, patting her bed again. "Please? I may have been there with you for some of it, but I have no idea what went on. All I know is from your intervention."

TK cringed, remembering the day Matt had gathered the DigiDestined together to confront TK on his problem. He and Kari had fought that day after she told them all that they had been sleeping together when they got drunk. He hadn't spoken to most of them since then, and neither had Kari.

Sighing, he moved over to her bed and sat down next to her, holding his glass between his knees. He looked over at her anxious face with a soft smile. "Where do you want me to start: the cocaine, the first drink, Angemon's death, or my parents' divorce?"

Kari's eyes widened. "This goes back to when you were four?"

"Well, I mean, not really," TK answered, shaking his head. "But it didn't help either. You know most my issues about my parents' divorce, so it wasn't really even worth mentioning."

"Tell me about it anyway," Kari insisted.

TK sighed. "Well, my therapist thinks it's a deep-rooted part of my anxiety issues, because half of my family was torn away from me before I could even start school. I'm apparently consistently looking for a family structure to provide stability in my life." He turned towards her with a smug smile. "That's one of the reasons the Digimon and you guys mean so much to me, especially Patamon. You guys provided me with the familial bonds that were severed at too young an age."

Kari stared back at him wide-eyed. "You said that so... medically."

TK shrugged, setting his water glass on her night stand behind her. "Ehh, when you hear the same thing twice a week, the wording gets stuck in your head."

Kari nodded and stared down at her lap. "I guess that's why losing Angemon affected you so much."

TK sighed and threw himself back on her bed, laying down with his hands behind his head. "It was that and not really understanding what had happened to me. I immediately got his DigiEgg back and things felt fine. I knew Patamon was fine, but I still had to watch him die, ya know? I mean, I was only eight." TK turned his head towards her, locking eyes with neutral look on his face. "You should know, with Wizardmon and all."

Kari flinched at the mention of her old friend. "I guess, but I don't think that's the same as losing your partner."

TK turned away to face the ceiling again. "Perhaps," he gave in, still neutral about the whole subject. "After our first adventure was done, I still really couldn't talk about it. Everyone thought we weren't going to see our Digimon again, so I couldn't really talk to you guys. My mom flat-out refused to acknowledge what had happened, so I couldn't talk to her. And I was only eight. I wasn't really sure what I was feeling or how to approach it. Even if I did have the support I needed, I didn't have the ability to comprehend that I was traumatized."

Kari looked over at her friend laying horizontally on her bed. His legs hung over the edge and his feet touched the floor, but his back lay straight across, looking up at her ceiling. His face remained calm, but not emotionless. She didn't understand how he could be so calm about the worst things that had happened to him.

"When did the nightmares start?" Kari shyly asked.

"Probably around our second adventure," TK answered, still calm about the topic that he was medicated for. "I had bad dreams about it up until then, but they were few and far between. It was about the time the Digimon Emperor showed up that they came pretty consistent. And well, you know what I did about that."

Kari nodded again, vaguely remembering their nights spent together blackout drunk. "I do. I was there for most of it."

TK snorted, looking over at her with a smirk. "Physically, but mentally, I don't know where we were."

Kari rolled her eyes. "Whatever. At least we have that excuse." Her smile at TK's response faded. "So I get why you drank, but why the fuck would you do cocaine?"

TK's smirk fell back to his neutral stare at the ceiling. "I don't know. I was mad. I knew what was going to happen in the morning, so I tried to make the most of what time I had left. I didn't _plan_ on overdosing. But did I die? No."

"Thank god you didn't," Kari huffed, crossing her arms at how nonchalant TK talked about his overdose. "That would have made my adoption decision a lot harder."

TK turned over on his side, holding his head up in his hand. He raised an eyebrow questioningly at her. "So you would have kept our baby if I had died?"

Kari blushed angrily. "I don't know!" she exclaimed, grabbing the pillow next to her and wrapping her arms around it. "Maybe we'd need it for a new Crest of Hope or something."

"Or you would have missed me and you wouldn't have been able to give up someone who looked like me," TK teased.

Kari hit TK's side with the pillow in her arms. "Of course, I'd miss you, you idiot," Kari defended. "Now, can we stop talking about if you were dead? It's bumming me out."

TK laughed and flopped back down on his back. "Fine, fine," he conceded, grabbing the pillow from her and putting it under his head. "That's just real backwards reasoning for keeping this baby, that's all."

Kari exhaled loudly, enough for TK to hear a distraught tone. "Okay, I've asked you enough questions. Now it's your turn."

TK turned back to face her. "What do you mean?"

Kari reached over for her water, not wanting to look at her best friend. "You said last night that you wanted to talk about the baby. Well, I'm giving you a chance. You can ask anything you want; no holding back. But when you're done, I have something I have to say."

TK finally sat up. He pushed himself back against the wall and positioned his hands in his lap. "Okay," he conceded, still confused. "I really hadn't prepared any questions. I just figured we'd talk about it."

"Well, you certainly felt the need to acknowledge this pregnancy any chance you got today, so I'm sure you have some opinions you'd like to share."

TK flinched at the harsh nature of her comment. He felt his cheeks get hot. "Look, I'm sorry if I got a little out of hand. I just don't think this is the end of the world, and I don't think it's something we should necessarily hide from those who care about us, or complete strangers in a town we don't even live in."

"I told you last night how I feel about that," Kari reminded him.

TK rubbed his eyes with his palms. "I know, I know," he groaned before sighing again. "I just don't think we should be sulking about something we can't change."

Kari paused, waiting to see if TK had anything else to say. "Okay, noted," she conceded. Her nails clinked against her glass in thought. "I'll make you a deal."

TK raised an eyebrow again. "Okay?"

"We'll tell the DigiDestined before we graduate, but only after it's born," Kari planned, holding out her hand towards TK. "Deal?"

TK took her hand and firmly shook it. "I can live with that. Does that mean I get to keep the tree picture as proof?"

Kari rolled her eyes and took her hand back. "I guess, but only if you keep it super sealed and protected." She paused for a moment, taking a drink from her water and setting it on her nightstand again. Her lips formed a tight line as she eyes stared down at the blanket over her legs. "Can I, uh… can I see that picture?"

"Uh, yeah, sure," TK stammered as he fumbled his hand inside his sweatpants pocket. He set the pillow he had up by Kari and moved to sit next to her. His fingers stumbled to open the picture as fast as he could.

Once the picture was on his phone screen, Kari let out a small laugh. "God, we actually look like a couple."

TK snorted. "At least you smiled in it instead of that nasty look I got from you after." His eyes left the screen to look at Kari, who was staring down at the picture with a faint smile on her face. Despite knowing her for years, he couldn't place what she was feeling by her smile. He looked over at her nightstand and her barely drunken water.

He nudged her lightly with his elbow. "Drink," he demanded, nodding his head towards her water.

Kari did as she was told, grabbing the glass. "What a caring husband you are," she joked, taking another drink.

"If all it takes to be your husband is to hold your hair back when you puke and keep you hydrated after, we've been married for years now," TK laughed.

"You _do_ know how to take care of hungover me."

"Which I guess is pretty much the same as pregnant you."

"Ehh, you're not wrong," Kari shrugged, taking one more drink before putting her glass back down. She turned back over and took TK's phone from his hand. He didn't protest. He really didn't care about Kari having his phone. She looked over the picture again in silence.

"Do you think we could have done it?" TK asked.

Kari faced him, confused. "Done what?"

A rush of heat ran across TK's face. "Let's just say this happened to us later. Like when we're out of school and have careers and shit." He looked up from the picture to Kari's confused face. "Do you think we could have raised this baby?"

Kari felt her cheeks get hot to match her best friend's. Her gaze darted away from his and she shoved his phone back at him. "I don't know," she quickly answered, obvious flustered by the question. "I think that would depend a lot on where we were, like if we were in love or something."

TK shook his head, trying to throw the red from his face. "Sorry, that was a dumb question."

"It's whatever," Kari said, curling herself up in her blanket. "Any more questions?"

TK sighed, putting his phone beside him on the bed. "I guess I have one more," he replied. "Do you think it's going to have Digimon partner? Or a crest?"

Kari looked over at him confused. "I don't know. Why would it?"

"Well, I think this kind of a special case," TK answered, shrugging uneasily at his explanation. "This isn't like if Joe and his girlfriend had a child. This child is a mixture of two DigiDestined; one-hundred percent DigiDestined, not mention the child of two crests that are heavily intertwined."

"That is kind of suspicious," Kari agreed.

"Do you think there's another prophecy out there about our crests that has to deal with this?" TK asked. "Maybe there's a DigiEgg already waiting for whatever combination of Hope and Light this child is."

"Then I guess that's a question for Gennai, or Elecmon, or anyone from the Digital World," Kari answered curtly.

"If our child does have a Digimon partner and a crest, I feel like it's our duty to make sure it knows about the Digital World."

"TK, do you want us to keep this baby?"

The blonde's eyes shot wide open. The blush he had gotten rid of came back at full force. He hadn't expected that question. Ever since she had told him, everything she had done had never given him the choice on what to do about their child. The bluntness of the question took him aback.

"I-I don't know," he stammered quickly. "I mean, like, I think we're doing the right thing in the end. I'm an alcoholic little prick who wants to study literature for a living. I'm not going to be able to provide for myself, much less you and a baby. A-And if you don't want to raise it, then I don't want to force you into that. But I don't know, some part of me just thinks that maybe we could do it, ya know? I want to be a good dad and not let my child go through what I did with my parents, which kinda seems like a reason to go through the adoption in this case. I just–"

"Shut up," Kari interrupted. She grabbed his hand and placed it on her stomach, immediately stopping his rambling. "It was a yes or no question."

TK didn't speak. Under his hand, he felt a slight movement. "It's moving. Is it kicking? I feel a kick," he whispered. "That's a real baby."

"Yeah," Kari replied, holding his hand still. "That could be our real baby, if you want."

TK's eyes remained glued to his hand. "What are you saying?"

Kari sighed, remaining as serious as she had been when she originally asked the question. "TK, ever since you found out, I haven't been able to tell if this is what you really want. At first, you were really clingy and wanted to know everything. Then you backed off for a little bit and that was fine until recently. And then today in town, you acted like we were a family and that we planned this baby and nothing was wrong."

She moved TK's chin to look at her. Their eyes locked, Kari's serious stare looking at TK's scared and confused blue pair. "Do you want us to be a family? Do you want to raise this baby?"

TK's heart pounded in his chest. It was a loaded question. He knew his simple yes or no answer could change his life forever. He had never even given him a straight forward answer on what he wanted to do. He looked into her eyes, noting how critical they looked staring back at him. He had the power to change both of their lives more than he already had.

He couldn't do that to her.

"No," he whispered, taking his hand from her stomach. "I can't do that you. I can't that to this child. Whatever you want to do, I'll do with you."

Kari stared at him for another few seconds before breathing a sigh of relief. "Oh, thank god," she sighed, leaning back down on her pillow. "I thought for a moment you were going to say yes."

"Then why did you give me the option?" TK argued.

Kari shrugged. "Because I didn't before."

TK huffed, throwing himself down onto his pillow beside her. The two sat in silence for a few moments, letting their eyes flutter with sleepiness.

"Okay, I'm falling asleep and I think I'm out of questions," TK spoke up, catching Kari's attention. "Now what was that thing you wanted to tell me?"

TK heard a faint exhale come from Kari as she stared up at her ceiling. "Stay here with me tonight," she said. "I want one more night with you."

"What do you mean, one more?" TK asked, knowing he was going to stay with her no matter what.

"Can you turn off the light?" Kari asked, crawling further under her blanket as she turned on her side away from TK. "I'd get it but I'm almost twenty-seven weeks pregnant and getting out of bed isn't fun."

TK didn't argue with her. He jumped over her out of bed and turned the light off, remembering to pick up his prescription bottle in the morning.

As he crawled back into bed with her, he lifted up the blanket on his side. "I hope you're okay with me being shirtless. My other sleeping shirt is dirty."

"TK, I've woken up next to you, both of us completely naked," Kari reminded him, not turning around to look at him. "You only wearing pants doesn't bother me."

"Point taken," TK whispered, laying down on his back. He stared up at the ceiling, looking at the light entering from the window. "Now what did you mean by one more night?"

"Do you honestly think things are going to go back to normal?" Kari bluntly asked, tugging on the blanket she was sharing with him. "Because nothing is ever going to be how it was. I'm always going to look at you as the guy who got me pregnant, and you're always going to look at me as the girl you got pregnant."

"Kari, you were my friend before all this," TK reminded, offended that she would even suggest that.

"Friend or not, this changes everything about us," Kari said, her stern voice cracking a little. "We're never going to be able to go back to a time before I had your child. That's an awkward relationship to have with anyone, let alone your best friend."

TK heard a cry in her voice and didn't respond. He didn't know what to say. He knew things were different between them, but he never thought about it to the extent Kari obviously had. Were things never going to be how they were? TK had thought the joking and fun they had that day had been a perfect example of normality between them. But he also knew she was right in her own way. They would always have this awkward experience between them.

"Kari, I don't know what to say," TK admitted, defeated.

"Say that this is normal," Kari asked, feeling a tear fall down her cheek to her pillow. "For tonight, say that the partying or drinking or fucking we did was normal. Say this pregnancy is normal. I just want one normal night of being with my best friend."

TK sighed, trying to put on a comforting smile that he knew she wouldn't see. "Well, for one thing, guy and girl best friend normally don't sleep together."

"Then don't be my best friend," she quickly pleaded. "Be my lover, the father of my child. Just be something to make this seem normal. If only for one night."

TK blinked a few times, listening to Kari try to hold in some tears. "This is really contradictory towards everything you've done to me this whole pregnancy," he pointed out.

"I know," Kari lightly cried. "I'm sorry."

TK wanted things to go back to how they were before they got into the mess they were in. Kari meant a lot to him, as a DigiDestined and as a friend. The thought of having an awkward relationship with her forever didn't sit well with him. She had been forcing him out of her life the whole pregnancy, just to tell him that things weren't going to be fine afterward. He felt weird and mad. But hearing a soft sniffle from her best friend let him know that he couldn't disappoint her any further.

He reminded himself to get a drink with Kami when he got home the next night.

He turned over on his side and threw an arm over Kari and the blanket they shared. He moved a piece of her hair behind her ear as he softly shushed her. "It's okay; don't cry," he whispered, rubbing her arm. "I'm a horrible husband, I know."

"You'll be a great husband someday," Kari said through a light sniffle. "Some lady out there is going to be really lucky to have you."

"I'll be sure to find a lucky lady in my next group therapy session," TK joked, pulling her in closer to him. "This brings back memories, huh?"

"They were drunken memories, so I don't know how much there is to bring back," Kari pointed out, still quietly laughing at his joke.

The two lay in comfortable silence. Kari felt TK's chest breathing into her back as TK waited for Kari's body to stop shaking from her crying. They knew it wasn't the first time they were in that position, but it was the first time they weren't drunk or hungover. TK couldn't quite place a finger on it, but nothing felt off about the arrangement, probably because he had done it before. He knew he wanted to make Kari happy, and he also wanted to spend one last time with her before things went downhill between them again. He wasn't complaining about the situation.

TK and Kari had always melded together somehow. The thought of him and Kari not being able to be friends like they were didn't sit well in his stomach. He wanted her in his life no matter what. But he knew Kari had made up her mind, and she knew she was never going to be able to see TK the same way. He didn't know what he would have to do to change that, or if he could at all. But being with her there felt right, under the circumstances. He still didn't know whether his feelings towards her were platonic or romantic, and maybe he would never know. But whatever they were doing that night felt reasonable to TK's emotions towards her.

"Hey, Kari?" he whispered, hoping she wasn't asleep yet.

"Yeah?" Kari answered back sleepily.

"I'm leaving _Goodnight Moon_ here," he said, grabbing onto her hand. "I want you to give it the adoptive parents for the baby to have from us."

Kari gave his hand a squeeze. "So that's why you bought it?"

"Maybe subconsciously; I don't know," he admitted, snaking his arm under her side.

Kari lifted her body up and turned to face TK, pushing him off her. TK stayed on his side, facing her. Her eyes weren't open, but a small smile was resting on her face, along with the water stains of the tears that had fallen down her cheek. "That's kind-hearted man that knocked me up," she joked.

TK smiled with her and brushed another strain of hair behind her ear. She looked so peaceful falling asleep beside him. She was comfortable, TK could tell. She never had to worry when TK was around. He was going to miss that dynamic of theirs.

Just when he had thought that he had move on, she roped him back in, only to send him on his way again.

"Marry me, Kari."

"You're an idiot."

* * *

 **AN: This is the longest chapter update so far at 32 pages and 9,367 words. I hope I did it justice and didn't fill it horribly. I've been looking forward to writing this section, because it gives TK a lot of closure about his situation with Kari, but also opens up some problems that he has about it as well. And as someone who ships Takari, it's kinda fun to write them not really knowing how they feel about each other and having to work it out under stressful circumstances. To be honest, a possible Takari romantic plotline is the only thing I don't have quite figured out yet. We'll see, I guess.**

 **Also, updates will be coming slower again, as I start my new job in two days. I absolutely plan on getting this story done before school starts back, however, because I do not want to take this into a new school year with me. That did not go over well the last time.**

 **That behind said, I should have around three or four more chapters left, with perhaps two epilogues to this story. Everything has pretty much been charted out. I can't wait to finish this story for you.**


	11. Just Another Slow Burn

" _Telling myself I can block out the distance like I don't care, don't care  
Cue reality  
I hope it all comes back again…  
Cuz you lit a match with your nails on my back,  
And something tells me I'll never learn  
Just another slow burn"_

 _Slow Burn – State Champs_

* * *

TK stared down at his notebook, unable to concentrate on anything he had just read. His mind wanted to race with a million thought of what had happened the previous weekend, but it was stuck. That had been his mindset the whole week.

Leaving Kari after the night they spent felt weird to him. A part of him felt like he should have stayed or packed her up to bring home with her. The other, louder part of him knew that whatever Kari had felt about their relationship that night had set the tone for how they were going to be for the rest of their lives. And TK wasn't quite sure how he should handle it.

"TK?" a voice called, trying to pull him out of his trance. When he continued to stare down at his notebook, the person behind his voice shook his shoulder.

TK let out a small scream, startled by the person who touched him. He jumped around in his seat to face his brother, who looked just as scared as he was. "Matt?" he asked. "What are you doing here?"

"Picking you up from your appointment," Matt reminded him, almost as if it were a question. "I've been waiting in the car for twenty minutes now."

TK looked around, remembering he was in the lobby of his therapist's office. He had just had his second appointment of the week, but he didn't feel better. Everything with Kari wouldn't come out and it all weighed heavy on his mind.

He shook his head and picked up his book from the waiting-room seat next to him. "Yeah, I'm sorry. I lost track of time," he apologized, quickly shoving everything back in his backpack.

Matt looked down at his little brother, concerned. "Is everything okay? You've been acting odd this week."

His eyes looked cloudy and lost as he looked up at his brother. He knew better than to lie to Matt, but he knew he couldn't tell him why he was confused. He hadn't told his older brother that he had stolen his car to go see Kari, and he hoped to keep that secret from him for a while.

TK nodded slightly and slung his backpack over his shoulder. "Yeah, I'm fine. I just got out of therapy, didn't I?"

Matt didn't seem convinced, but also didn't look like he wanted to press his luck in trying to prod out whatever was wrong with his brother. Instead, he just nodded back, shoved his hand in his pockets, and led TK out of the office.

Once the brothers were in the car, TK threw his backpack on the floorboard and waited for Matt to speak to him. TK hadn't been in the mood to strike up small talk since the deep conversations he had with Kari that weekend. He knew not being chatty with his brother was a cause for concern, but he couldn't even fake it at that point.

He didn't know what he was going to do about Kari when she came back, and that scared him.

Matt sighed from the driver's seat, merging lanes towards the route to his apartment. He knew what he was about to do would get him on his brother's bad side, but the way his brother was acting had him worried for TK's wellbeing. Matt couldn't help TK alone; he never had been able to. Tai was there for him in the Digital World. Kari was there for him during the intervention. The older brother knew that, as much as he didn't like pulling other people in to help him, he needed someone to help him help TK.

"Hey, TK?" Matt asked, pulling TK's thoughts away from the passenger-side window. "You know you can tell me anything, right?"

TK stared back at him blankly, blinking a few times. "Yeah, of course I do," he answered. "That's why I'm living with you."

"Well, yeah, but if there's something on your mind, ya know…" Matt trailed off, unsure how to approach the topic without angering his brother. He hit his turn-signal and turned into his apartment's parking complex.

TK shook his head and scoffed. "I know, _Yamato_ ," the younger brother curtly said, returning his attention to the window.

Matt rolled his eyes and parked the car. Aggressively turning off the engine and taking out his keys, Matt groaned, "Whatever, _Takeru_."

The two brothers got out of the car and walked to the staircase in silence. Matt knew that TK was a teenager with a lot going on in his head, between his recovery, Kari, and finishing school. He tried to be there for him as much as he could, but it was hard when TK didn't want him to help.

When they got to the apartment, Matt opened the door without unlocking it.

"You didn't even lock the door behind you?" TK asked, walking in and taking his shoes off. "That's not very safe, is it?"

Matt didn't respond. He walked into the kitchen and placed his keys on the hook. A sigh escaped his mouth as he looked at the person at his dining room. He threw his hands up in front of his chest and gave the person a fake smile. "He's your brat now."

"Who are you taking to?" TK asked as he walked into the kitchen. His eyes went wide at the person sitting at the table. "Mom? What are you doing here?"

His mother sat at the table, looking worried. "Your brother asked me to come over, since you wouldn't come talk to me."

TK looked over at Matt, glaring at him. "Are you doing an intervention again?"

Matt groaned as he leaned against the kitchen counter. "I just invited her over for dinner," he explained. "No intervention necessary. Now go put your backpack on the couch, clean yourself up, and come help me cook."

TK rolled his eyes and did as he was told. Once he was out of the room, Matt turned towards his mother after checking the oven. "Thanks for starting dinner while I got him."

"Not a problem," Ms. Takaishi said, getting up from her chair. "Do you need any help?"

"No, I've got this," Matt answered as he reached behind her for the knife drawer.

His mother sat down again as she watched her son chop a head of lettuce. The two remained in silence, with neither of them knowing what to say. Matt and his mother hadn't been close, and Matt rarely spoke to her unless it was about TK. He hated that he had to call her over in the first place.

"He listens to you better than he listens to me," his mother noted, continuing to watch her son as he cut up two tomatoes.

Matt scoffed and smirked, "He knows I won't feel bad about putting him in a chokehold."

"I'm serious, Matt," Ms. Takaishi said after she finished a quiet giggle. "Is he behaving himself?"

Matt shrugged as he scrapped the cut food into a bowl. "I guess, although the threshold for good behavior of an alcoholic is pretty low." Matt turned to view his mother's reaction and his mischievous smile fell when he saw her frown. "He's been fine, Mom. He's been going to school, coming home, doing his senior project, hanging out with friends–"

"Which friends?"

"He's being a normal teenager," Matt stressed, looking his paranoid mother in the eye. He sighed, turning back around to the salad. "Look, he's been pretty good until this week. I don't know what happened while I was away this weekend, but–"

"You left him alone all weekend?" his mother scolded.

"Mom, listen!" Matt exclaimed, slamming the knife down on the cutting board. He turned to face her, leaning against the counter with his hands on the edge. He exhaled, calming himself down. "The only reason he's over here is because you don't trust him, and I understand why you don't. But at some point, you've gone from being cautious to overprotective. Why do you think he comes to me for everything?"

"Because you aren't his parent," Ms. Takaishi reminded.

"I've parented that boy just as much as you have this past year," Matt snapped. "TK comes to me because I trust him. Do I question his motives? Of course, I do. But I also let him be a normal teenager."

His mother didn't say anything. She just looked back at him sternly, trying to hold back how hurt she was. Matt sighed, turning back around to finish dinner. "We don't need to be fighting, Mom. I'm only twenty-one; What do I know about taking care of my brother? Just get his ass out of my apartment and back to yours."

"Yamato…" his mother chided.

Before the conversation could continue, TK came back in, changed from his school uniform into a pair of sweatpants and old basketball shirt. Matt looked over at him as TK grabbed utensils from the drawer. "Nice outfit. You could have dressed a little nicer for your mother."

"She's seen me naked. What does it matter?" TK responded, grabbing three plates from the cabinet and setting the table. "So what are you doing here, Mom? Trying to get me to come back home?"

His mother sighed, fixing the arrangement of the utensils on the table. "Your brother invited me over to talk about your future living arrangements," she answered. "That, and apparently your behavior has been worrying him."

TK glared at his brother and whispered, "Traitor."

"Wouldn't be the first time," Matt smirked, mixing the salad aggressively.

"Okay, boys, enough passive aggressive remarks," their mother interrupted, jumping up to take the salad mixers away from her oldest son. "I don't know what has gotten into either of you, but you don't have to take it out on the food."

Both sons rolled their eyes and sat down at the table. Matt and their mother placed the food down, and everyone took what they want in silence. The family ate quietly for a few moments until Ms. Takaishi broke the silence.

"How's your senior project coming along, TK?" she asked.

TK nodded, answering between chews. "It's going fine," he answered awkwardly, unsure as to why his mother cared about his project.

"That's good," she replied, faking a cheerful attitude.

Matt looked up from his plate and eyed his brother and mother. "Like I said, that project is all he does besides hang out with that girl of his."

"Matt!" TK seethed, hitting his plate with his fork.

"What girl?" his mother asked, suspiciously. "Is it Kari?"

TK's cheeks reddened as he stared down at his plate. "She's just a girl I'm talking to. It's nothing serious."

"That's why you're over at her place every weekend night," Matt smirked, enjoying how embarrassed TK was, even if it didn't help his situation.

"Who is she? What's her name?" his mother quizzed. "Does she know about your problem? She hasn't given you alcohol, has she?"

"Oh my god," TK exclaimed, slamming his fork down on the table. "I don't have to tell everyone I'm an alcoholic, Mom. I can handle myself."

"TK, you shouldn't be dating right now," his mother said, worried. "You're about to graduate, you're only three months out of rehab, and you have a baby on the way."

"Correction: I _don't_ actually have a baby on the way," TK fake-laughed, shrugging his shoulders angrily. "The adoptive parents do."

"There's already a girl out there having your baby," Ms. Takaishi corrected herself. "You haven't had sex with this girl, have you?"

"So what if I have?" TK exclaimed. "Not every girl I've ever had sex with has gotten pregnant."

Matt choked on a piece of lettuce at TK's statement. His face went red to match his mother's as he coughed furiously.

"Takeru!" his mother yelled. "How many girls have you slept with?"

"This isn't really a conversation I want to have with my mother," TK muttered, looking anywhere but at his mom.

"Well then, tell your brother."

"I'd rather throw myself off the balcony," Matt groaned after gulping down his water to stop his choking. He'd rather not think about how his brother had gotten laid more than he had the past year.

TK groaned, throwing his head back. "This is not a conversation I want to have with either of you."

"You're using condoms this time, right? You _do_ know what condoms are?" his mother asked.

TK threw his hands over his ears. "I'm not hearing this," TK exclaimed, then removed his hands from his head. "And what do you mean 'this time?' Kari and I used condoms every time. We were drunk, not stupid. And I used a condom with the girl before Kari."

"There was a girl before Kari?" his mother angrily asked.

"Enough!" Matt yelled, slamming his hands on the table. The two arguing jumped at the noise, startled by the sudden outburst. "I didn't ask you over here so I could hear about how safe my brother was with the multiple girls he's fucked." He turned his attention from his mom to his brother. "And I'm honestly surprised you can still have sex with anyone right now considering _you got your best friend pregnant_."

"I get it!" TK exclaimed. "I get it, okay? You two don't have to remind me every day. I know all the shit I did. I have to talk about it twice a week in therapy."

"You certainly aren't acting like you get it," his mother scold.

"I can't do anything right, can I, Mom?" TK asked, frustrated. "Got chosen to go to the Digital World: wrong. Watching my partner die: wrong. Had horrible PTSD-induced nightmares for years: wrong. Developed an alcohol addiction to cope with it: wrong. Fucked my best friend when we were drunk: wrong. Knocked her up: wrong. Went to rehab: wrong. Want me to go on?"

"TK, listen to me," his mother sternly pleaded.

"Because I can go on," TK angrily smiled, feeling a sting of tears behind his eyes. "Met a cool new girl and had a few dates with her: wrong. Had sex with her because I didn't know where I stood with Kari: wrong. Stole Matt's car to go visit Kari last weekend when she called me crying: wrong. Not being there for Kari through this pregnancy: wrong. Proposing to her: wrong. Thinking we could ever go back to the way we were: wrong."

TK didn't know why that all slipped out, like the tears that ran down his cheek. He didn't know why he was crying either. It didn't make sense. His mother and brother stared back at him wide-eyed.

"You proposed to her?"

"You stole my car?"

Ms. Takaishi shot her eldest son a glare before whispering, "Priorities."

"Don't worry; I'm not sure if I meant it and she didn't take it seriously. It just spilled out before we fell asleep," TK assured, embarrassed by his sudden outburst.

"How are you not sure if you meant it?" his mother scolded. "You asked her to _marry_ you. That's not something you just throw out there. Are you even in love with her?"

"I don't know," TK groaned, exasperated by the question he had been asking himself all week. "I don't know whether it was actually me or if it's just the baby or what. Regardless of how I feel, she told me that we'll never be able to go back to how things were between us, and I don't know how to handle that."

He faced Matt with a tearful, angry smile on his face. "There? Happy? Now you know what's been bugging me all week. I'm scared that I lost my best friend all because of some stupid broken condom, failed birth control pills, and copious amounts of alcohol."

He sighed, pushing his plate away from him, having lost his appetite. "So sorry I'm a fucking mess."

Matt stared at the hurt in TK's eyes, feeling the gears in his head spin. He knew not to address the stolen car thing at the moment, but other things his younger brother had mentioned started to add up to one scary conclusion.

Matt's face went from confused to stoic. "TK, did you relapse?"

TK blinked, keeping the hurt look on his face. "What makes you think that?" he seethed.

"Because losing Kari is exactly the kind of thing that would send you over the edge."

The younger brother cringed, realizing how true Matt could read him. He didn't respond. His eyes went over to his mother, who now looked more scared than angry. He couldn't tell them about his movies nights with Kami, and he certainly couldn't tell them about the night he slept with her. But he knew he couldn't get away with a lie to Matt in this situation. Matt was right; he had relapsed, but TK knew his problem started with more than just Kari.

Instead of answering, TK got up from the table and walked out of the kitchen. The sound of the other chairs around the table screeching across the floor followed him into the living room.

"Takeru Takaishi, have you been drunk since you've been out of rehab?" his mother demanded to know, watching at her son pack his stuff into the duffle-bag he had been living out of.

TK didn't respond. Instead he shoved the bag into his mother's hands. "Here, take this home. I'll move back in with you. Whatever."

"TK, wait," Matt said, reaching a hand out to his brother's shoulder, less angry than he was in the kitchen. "I'm not mad if you relapsed. I want to help you if you did."

TK quickly swatted it away from him as he walked towards the front door. "Oh, so you can send me to rehab again?" He shook his head as he quickly stuffed his feet into his shoes. "Just another thing I did fucking wrong."

"TK," Matt said before being cut off.

"Whatever. I'll stay with Kami tonight," TK demanded, reaching for the door. He looked back at his mother with another fake smile. "Don't worry, Mom. If I do have sex with her, I'll be sure to use a condom."

Matt gave his mother a worried look as the color drained from her face. Before Matt could follow his brother, the door slammed behind him. His mother fell to her knees on the floor with the slam, hugging TK's bag to her chest. Matt knew he should run after TK, but the sight of his mother the most vulnerable she had been since TK was in the hospital stopped him. He had never been empathetic towards his own mother, but the sight of her crying on the floor hurt more than he thought it would.

Instead of following TK, Matt kneeled beside his mom, took the duffle-bag from her arms, and hugged her, letting her cry on his shoulder.

"Why didn't you follow him?" she cried. "You should have followed him. You know what he's going to do."

Matt just nodded, not feeling the need to say aloud how drunk they both knew TK would get that night. It was exactly like this intervention. Whether TK was confronted about something he was doing negatively, he ran away. It was an annoying trait, but Matt knew he got it from him in the Digital World.

"Matt, he's going to die," his mother sobbed. "He's going to get drunk, and high, and do cocaine, and die. My baby's going to die."

"He's not going to die," Matt tried to soothe her. He pulled away and grabbed onto her shoulders. "I'll call Davis or Ken or one of them to find out where this girl lives. I'll go get him, okay? Let me take you home."

With a sniffle, Ms. Takaishi got to her feet while Matt got his keys that hung from the hook on the wall. The last thing he wanted to be doing was another manhunt for his brother, but he knew he had to. It would be harder this time because he didn't have Kari to guide him. But that didn't matter. His only mission was to bring his brother back safe and get him the help he needed again.

"This is going to be a long, uphill battle," Matt groaned.

* * *

TK sighed blissfully as Kami nuzzled against his chest. He wrapped his arms around her and gave her a kiss on the cheek.

"You know, I'm all for surprises," Kami whispered, getting adjusted back into bed. "But coming to my door at six in the evening and pouncing on me was a little unexpected."

TK playfully rolled his eyes. "You didn't seem to mind," he joked, kissing the top of her head resting on his bare chest.

"I mean, I can't complain," she giggled, running her fingers in a circle over TK's abdomen. "It just seemed a little out of nowhere. Is something bothering you?"

His eyes widened at her question, but he tried to hide his worry. He didn't want to tell Kami anything about the fight he had with his mother and brother. He hadn't told her anything about what the fight was about. He couldn't do that. He didn't want to think about any of his problems.

Instead of answering, TK lifted her off his chest and kissed her again. When she didn't push him away, TK made his way down her neck, feeling shivers run down her spine with every kiss he placed. Without warning, he flipped her over, laying on top of her. His hands moved down her stomach to her thigh, massaging his thumb on her inner thigh.

TK pulled away from her neck and moved down her chest, placing gentle kisses on her collarbone to her sternum to the top of her stomach. Before going any further, he pushed himself up, sliding his legs in between hers and placing his lips just slightly above hers. He smirked down at her, running his free hand through her tangled hair. "You wanna go again?" he whispered, reaching his hand around her ear and behind her neck, pulling her up closer to him.

"A-As much as I want to," Kami stuttered, placing her hands on his chest. "You know I have plans tonight."

TK started to kiss her neck again, right next to the bruise illuminated by the streetlight outside of her window. "Skip it," he whispered into her neck. He moved his hand up her thigh, feeling her body shiver with every tease he gave her.

"TK," she moaned, trying not to get into whatever he was doing. "I really can't. Tonight's something really important."

"More important than this?" he asked as his fingers played with the hem of her shorts.

TK felt Kami dig her nails into his back as he continued to tease her. Her breath hitched under him before she could reply, "Why don't you come with me and we can pick this up later?"

Pausing for a second, TK dove down for one quick kiss. "Okay," he conceded. "But I'm holding you to that."

"Yeah, yeah, whatever," she laughed, pushing him off her. "Just remember that my parents are home tonight, so I'll have to sneak you in and out."

TK accepted that dangerous task as she watched her hop off her bed, turn on the light, and head over to her closet. He sighed contently, laying down on his back with his hands behind his head. He didn't know what important thing Kami had to do that night, but he really didn't care. He was in the same situation he was in back in May: Matt would be looking for him to send him back to rehab. He knew he wasn't as bad as he had been. TK didn't quiet see the point of getting mad over a relapse, if that's even what TK would call it.

TK's eyes wondered over to Kami as she tried on and pulled off shirt after shirt from her wardrobe. She was pretty and he always had fun whenever he was around her. She made him happy. He didn't understand his mother's issue with him hanging out with another girl. He bit the inside of his lip, remembering the girl that his mother wanted him to be focusing on. It was Kari, three hours away and predestined to dislike him for their rest of their lives.

TK scoffed aloud and threw himself up on the bed. He reached down the to the floor, grabbing his old basketball shirt and sweatpants he had run over in. He wished he hadn't given his mother his bag with the rest of his clothes. Kami was looking decent while TK knew he would look like someone who hadn't gotten out of bed in a week.

Which he barely had, but he skipped that detail in his analysis.

As he put his shirt on, Kami came from her closet and grabbed the bottom of it. "Oh, no, you can't wear that," she insisted.

TK turned around, taking in the nice winter outfit she had finally chosen. "I can't go naked, can I?" he asked, placing his shirt on her bed. He raised an eyebrow suggestively and smirked. "Unless you want me to."

"Get bent," she laughed, heading towards her door. "I'll just grab something from my brother. It should fit, right?"

TK laughed and kicked his pants up from the ground. "It'll have to," he joked, knowing that he and her brother were roughly the same size, if not TK being a little smaller. It wouldn't be too bad. Before she could open the door, TK asked, "You want me to fix you anything?"

Kami smiled at him and pointed to a stack of mugs on her dresser. "You know where everything is. I'll bring us mixers on the way back," she laughed, leaving to fetch TK some clothes.

TK smirked and walked over to the mugs, pulling two out. He then slid his hand under her bed and felt around for the large plastic bottle. He reminded himself that he would have to give her better tips on how to hide her alcohol than just stuffing it under her bed.

As TK poured three shots of vodka into each mug, he wondered just what was so special about that night that had Kami excited. He figured she would be going out tonight since it was Friday, but that was a common occurrence for her.

The smell of the vodka hit TK's nose and caused him to gag. He loved vodka, but the scent hit him wrong every time. He set the bottle down on her dresser and stirred the mugs in his hands, waiting for Kami to come back so he could put some clothes on and get ready.

TK looked at himself in her dresser mirror. He knew he wasn't a bad-looking guy, besides the two hickeys on his collar bone. He had lost some tone and definition when he stopped playing basketball, but he was really surprised he had been able to keep off all the alcohol weight in his year of drinking.

TK sat down on her bed and opened the calendar on his phone. He scrolled back to November of the year before. There was one date he had in mind: November 28th. It had almost been a year since the day he got drunk for the first time. It had also been the first night he had slept with Kari.

He looked from his phone to the mirror, and noted how much can change in a year. In one year, he had gone from a high-school basketball star with great friends and a bright future, to an alcoholic teenager with a pregnant ex-best friend. All it took was one year to get on and off six different medications, bi-weekly therapy appointments, and possibly two stints in rehab.

He thought of Kari. This time a year ago, they had been planning their Halloween costumes and what snacks they were going to bring to the younger DigiDestined Halloween party. TK was partial to chocolate, but Kari insisted on something fruity. He remembered they settled on chocolate-dipped strawberries with white chocolate eyes to look like spiders. Now, they couldn't even settle where their friendship would stand after she gave birth in December.

He thought of Matt. His brother had always had his back. TK spent a large chunk of his high school career backstage at Matt's concerts, helping set up and promote his older brother's band whenever he could. TK loved watching his brother play; he still did. But he hadn't seen Matt perform in since last February, and even then, TK remembered getting drunk before he went.

He thought of the other DigiDestined. The times they were all able to get together were few and far between. As they grew older and the older kids were branching out into careers, it was harder to get all of them together. Besides TK's intervention, the last time the whole group had been their annual Christmas party. Mimi had brought some fancy champagne and they all were tipsy by the end of the night. TK and Kari had snuck away to exchange their gifts. He had gotten her a cat charm for her bracelet and medium-sized bottle of Fireball, to make up for what they drank at their first party. Careful to not get caught, they drank about a third of the bottle at the party, and finished half of it by the time the party was over. He remembered that was the night he had slept with her for the second time. He recalled bits and pieces of the party, like Yolei trying the hold the mistletoe over him and Kari, and Matt trying to start a failed round of "Silent Night." The last two times the entire DigiDestined had been together, TK was drunk, and the last time did not leave a good impression of him.

He thought of Patamon. He hadn't seen his Digimon in over a year. Gennai had noticed some disturbance by Primary Village and asked TK to go check it out, seeing Elecmon trusted him the most. The partners didn't find anything on their mission and hadn't heard about it since, but TK enjoyed the day of just him and Patamon. The two had really grown-up since their first adventure the Digital World, but TK's growth was a lot more complicated. He knew the group went over the summer to explain to the Digimon what had happened with him, but he hadn't been able to bring himself to go talk to Patamon himself. He didn't really know what to say. Patamon would find a way to blame it on himself for what happened with Devimon, and that was the last thing he wanted.

He couldn't talk to his best friend, his brother, his friends, or even his partner about what was going on in his head. The past year whirled around like a merry-go-round, repeating itself over and over until it drove him mad.

TK shook his head, not wanting to think about how fast his life had turned downward. He threw his phone back down on the bed and reached for the bottle of vodka. Pressing the large container to his lips, TK chugged it. It wasn't long, just enough for the burning in his throat to cause his eyes to water. When he finally slammed the bottle back on the counter, the door opened.

"Someone's pregaming without me?" Kami laughed, shutting the door behind her with her feet. In her hands, she had two juice bottles, and a pair of pants and a shirt hung over her arm. Her smile faded when she noticed the pale look on TK's face as he gripped onto the side of her dresser. "Are you okay?"

"Yeah," TK choked, feeling the intense burn of what he could assume was four shots going down his throat. "Just choked on that shot, that's all."

Kami scrunched up her face in worry, but handed him on of the bottles anyway. "Okay, drink this," she said, laying her brother's clothes on the bed. "And be careful next time. I don't know the Heimlich maneuver."

TK took a swig of the drink, washing away the sting. He exhaled loudly, thankful that the pain had subsided. "Thanks. I needed that," he replied, pouring his drink into his mug. He took a sip of his mixed drink before turning to the clothes Kami had laid out for him. "Probably would have been hard to explain why a guy in his boxers was dead on your floor," he joked as he slid the shirt on.

Kami rolled her eyes and fixed her makeup in her vanity mirror. "It wouldn't be fun, I guess," she laughed, applying some green concealer to the bruises on her neck. "Can you take it easy next time? I'm going to run out of concealer at this rate."

TK laughed, zipping up his pants. "Tell that to my collarbone," he joked. He turned towards her dresser mirror and tried to fix his hair. It was wild and all over the place. He knew he needed to get it cut a week ago, but his visit to see Kari threw off that plan. He ran his fingers through it, trying to get his blonde mop to some decent state.

"So what's going on tonight anyway?" TK asked, still staring at himself.

"A few friends are meeting up at Chloe's house. I got something new for us to try," Kami said, applying another coat of mascara. "Bought it off the guy that sells me Adderall. Told me it was some great stuff."

"Something new?" TK questioned, turning to face her. He took another drink from his mug. "That doesn't sound sketchy at all."

"Yeah, I know, but whatever," Kami shrugged off, applying some lip gloss. She turned around and took her mug from the dresser. "He also said don't drink too much or it won't work."

TK raised an eyebrow. He didn't know what Kami was getting him into, and apparently, she didn't know either. He thought about the vodka he chugged. He honestly didn't know why he did it, but doing so seemed even worse now.

Kami picked up on TK's worried feeling and smiled. "Trust me, he said everything would be fine if we followed the steps he gave me." She grabbed his shoulder comfortingly. "I've got you."

TK nodded, finishing his drink in his mug. He felt the nausea of the liquor in his stomach hit him. He couldn't let it show, though. He watched Kami finished her drink and grab her bag, putting her phone and house keys in it. He decided not to respond. Instead, he followed her, letting her decide how their night was going to go.

* * *

Once they got to Chloe's house, TK noticed how small the group was. Five other people sat in the living room with them as Kami rummaged through her purse.

"So Kami, is this the boy you've been talking about?" her friend Chloe purred, running her finger's down TK's thigh as she sat next to him on the couch.

"Yes, and back off," Kami laughed, swatting her hand away. "He's not here for that; he's here for me."

TK shrugged, looking at Kami jokingly. "Not wrong," he whispered as he grabbed her thigh.

Kami rolled her eyes before suddenly squealing at her find. She pulled a sheet of tin foil out of her purse and threw the purse beside the couch. "Found it!" she exclaimed.

"Found what?" one of the guy asked, leaning over in his seat to see what Kami held.

TK examined the foil Kami had in her hand as she unfolded it. "The guy I got this from said to not let it touch your fingers for too long," she said, exposing a perforated square of paper.

"No fucking way," the other guy excitedly yelled, jumping up from his seat to look at the paper. "You got us LSD?"

Kami nodded, looking proud of herself.

The other people in the room stirred excitedly. TK, on the other hand, sat in his seat nervously. He didn't let it show, though. He was drunk and could hold in some of the anxiety he was feeling. This night felt just like the night he overdoses on cocaine. He had just planned on getting drunk and high that night, not doing cocaine. As he felt his head get lighter from the liquor in his system, he had the same thoughts again.

He watched as Kami sat the foil on the table. "Okay, so he said to take it, place it on your tongue, and wait for it to dissolve. You have to do it quickly."

TK's knowledge of the drug was limited. Some of the people he met in rehab told him about their experiments with it, but he knew nothing more than the hallucinations they all bragged about. He wasn't sure about doing that himself.

He watched as each teenager in the room ripped of a dab from the blotter and pop it on their tongue. Kami took hers and smiled over at TK, winking after she placed the paper in her mouth. "You're turn, babe," she laughed.

TK felt his palms become clammy. He wasn't really sure he should do that. Relapsing was already taking place with the alcohol that flowed through him, but he didn't know if he could dabble experimental drugs.

Kami gave him a concerned look. "TK, are you okay?" she asked. "You don't have to if you don't want to. I'd never pressure you into doing something you didn't want to do."

TK stared back down at the acid tabs in front of him. Acid was a stimulant; alcohol was a depressant. From what he learned in rehab about combining drugs, they could counteract each other. That's probably why Kami's dealer told her not to drink beforehand. Seven shots sounded like enough to antagonized whatever effects the drug had.

Exhaling, TK shrugged and ripped off a piece of paper. He smirked over at her, pressing the colorful tab to his tongue. "I'm perfectly fine," he answered, not knowing what to expect next.

The next fifteen minutes went by agonizingly slow. TK waited for any effect of the drug to hit, hopefully canceling out some of the liquor he drank so he could take care of Kami. But not long after, the clammy feeling in his hands ran through his whole body. He started sweating horribly and he was incredibly hot.

"Did someone turn the heat on?" one the girls asked, fanning herself with a magazine from the table.

"No, it's the acid," the first excited answered. "That's how you know it's working."

Goosebumps started for form on TK's arm as he felt Kami finally lean off him. He looked over at her, noticing her dilatated pupils looking passed him. "Kami, are you okay?"

"Wow," she whispered, pointing behind him. "Look at that painting."

TK did as he was told, turning around to see the splatter-paint painting on the wall behind him. It looked exactly like it had when he arrived, a comforting fact TK tucked into his memory.

"TK, are you not seeing this?" Kami argued, continuing to point at the painting.

TK laughed, turning back around to her. "Yeah, I do…" he began to reply, only to trail off as something caught his eye in the window. He stared closely at it, but saw nothing that should have gotten his attention. Shaking it off, he looked over the rest of the teenagers with him, who also seemed to have having the same reaction as Kami.

TK let another fifteen minutes pass by as the acid finally hit their system. TK started to see the shifts in colors that Kami was talking about, though they weren't as vivid as Kami made them to be. A wave of relief washed over the anxious feeling TK had, hoping that this feeling was just the acid and alcohol counteracting each other like his drug class told him they would.

The two other boys got up from their seat and turned the radio on in the corner. The sound of some indie band TK didn't know rang from the radio. It reminded him of some music Kari tried to get him to listen to.

He quickly shook Kari from his mind. He didn't need to be thinking about her.

Something in the window caught his eye again. A black object moved, leaving the window blank again. He shook his head again, turning back towards the group.

He didn't quite understand what was going on. It didn't seem like anyone else did either. The sweat from his body felt like a waterfall rushing down. He was still incredibly hot. The colors on the walls swirled and melted, floating around in his vision like dust in the light. The music that was playing sounded familiar, and the best song he ever heard.

"Oh, I love this song!" the girl who touched his leg yelled, slinking down from her seat onto the floor. "Knife of Day is so profound, like they don't care what people say. They're in it for the music and its great."

TK's ear perked up. "Knife of Day?" he asked, taking in the song again.

"Yeah," the girl laughed, smiling over at him excitedly. "Have you heard of them? They're kinda small right now, but they're rising in popularity!"

"That's my brother's band," TK answered, smiling at radio. "I used to help them backstage all the time."

"No way!" Kami screeched, grabbing TK's arm. A chilling wave rushed up TK's arm at the touch. "You didn't tell me your brother was in Knife of Day."

"I didn't realize they were so popular," TK laughed. The room sat in silence as they listened to Knife of Day. TK let the music flow into his ears. He didn't remember his brother's band sounding that good.

The black object caught his attention from the window again. A flash of orange followed before disappearing again. TK felt his heart race at the sight. He didn't know what he saw, but it scared him. TK stood up and walked over to the window, trying to find whatever he had seen.

"TK, what are you doing?" Kami asked, falling over on the couch.

"I just…" TK trailed off, opening the window. He stuck his head out, looking in both directions for the black thing that kept catching his attention. The cool breeze chilled his whole body, ruffling his hair around his face. He moved the blonde strains from his eyes and came face-to-face with the black object.

TK let out a scream, throwing himself away from the window and on to the floor. His heart pounded faster and his breath wavered. "No, no, no," he whispered, crawling himself backwards on the floor.

"Dude, chill out," the guys said, taking note of the boy freaking out beside them.

"He's back, he's back," TK whispered, scrambling to get to his feet. His hand frantically patted his pants pockets, forgetting that the only thing he had on him was his phone. TK tripped over the teenagers on the ground, hitting his back against the wall opposite of the window.

"TK, what's wrong?" Kami groaned, laying down flat on her back on the couch.

TK continued to look frantically in his pockets. "Where is it? I need it. I need him."

The black object walked through the window and stood in the living room near the guys in the ground. TK's heart felt like it was going to leap out of his chest. He was told he would never see him again. He was told he was safe, that everyone was safe. His hand hit his phone, not what he was looking for. This eyes frantically looked at the other kids around him, blissfully unaware of the monster in the room.

TK looked at the black monster. His nails clawed in his palm as he curled his hand into a fist. "What do you want from me?" he asked.

The black monster didn't answer. It remained still on the other side of the room.

TK exhaled nervously, feeling a bead of sweat fall down his forehead and on to his cheek. "Are you here to finally kill me, Devimon?"

Saying the name of the monster in front of him took the boy's breath away. Devimon didn't move. He stood still, evilly grinning down at the DigiDestined.

TK tried to hide how scared he was. He had seen Devimon in countless nightmares, but he knew he wasn't dreaming. "I-I don't have Angemon with me," TK stammered, pressing himself further against the wall. "So killing me isn't going to do much."

"TK, what are you talking about?" Kami asked, falling off the couch onto the floor.

TK looked over at Kami on the floor and then back to where Devimon was. He had vanished. TK's heart didn't stop racing. He sighed, pulling himself away from the wall. He didn't know what he was doing. His hand traced the wall, feeling his way towards the kitchen. Another bead of sweat fell down his face. The sensation of being followed ran down his spine.

The florescent lights of the kitchen moved in waves in front of him. Something drew him towards the kitchen, what that was, he didn't know. Making his way to the other side, he ran his hand down the wall, watching the color on the wall pull with his hand. The wall was cool and smooth under his touch, calming him down a bit. TK rested his forehead against the wall, taking deep breaths as he tried to steady his heart. He couldn't. The appearance of Devimon and the psychedelic color show in front of him prevented his heart from pounding out of control.

"Hope," a voice whispered behind him.

TK's heart stopped. He didn't dare turn around.

"Hope," it whispered again.

TK knew it was talking to him. He grabbed onto the handle of the fridge, bearing himself for what was behind him. Taking a breath, he turned around, waiting to face Devimon.

He wasn't there.

TK sighed, dropping his hand from the fridge. He heard Kami call his name again, but he didn't move. His legs were planted to the floor.

"Hope," the voice called again.

TK's knees buckled and he grabbed onto the counter in front of him. His head hung down, looking at his legs. They were flickering, like a bad television signal. He had seen this before, year when Kari was taken to the Dark Ocean.

His breathing hastened, trying to piece together what was happening.

TK lifted his head up, coming in direct contact with Devimon, standing in the archway of the kitchen. He didn't say anything and continued to stare at him.

"What do you want?" TK asked angrily.

Devimon didn't answer. He took a step towards him.

TK looked around the counter and grabbing a knife from the block. "Step back," he warned, clutching the cold knife in his hand.

Devimon took another step forward. The voice from before whispered "Hope" again.

TK's hands shook. He didn't know what he could do, but he knew Devimon couldn't kill him. There was so much he needed to do. His free hand searched from his Digivice in his pocket to no avail. The only thing in his pocket was his phone. He had to call someone, one of the DigiDestined. But he couldn't take his eyes off Devimon.

"If you think you're going to kill me, think again," TK grunted, holding the knife in front of his chest. "I'm not letting you take me."

Devimon took another step forward, lifting a hand up. TK braced himself for an attack tht never came. His eyes followed where Devimon's finger pointed. He looked down at his arms, noticing them flicker like his legs.

"No," he whispered, holding up his other arm. He watched it flicker over and over again, not sure what to do to get it to stop. He looked up at Devimon, mad and desperate. "What are you trying to do to me?"

Devimon remained silent and didn't move. He didn't respond.

TK felt the blood in his body pulsing, matching how faster his heart was beating. He looked down at his arm, seeing the blood in his veins moving. With every pulse, his body flickered. The blue in his veins popped out amongst the flickering.

"That's it," TK's breath hitched, knowing what he would have to do. "You want me in the Dark Ocean?" he asked, trying to steady the grip on the knife in his hand. "You'll have to come get me."

Without warning, TK stabbed his left arm, watching his flickering blood flow from his arms. He cringed as his blood splattered onto the floor. His left arm stopped flickering, the light following the blood dripping from his arms.

He looked up at Devimon, gritting his teeth. "You're not going to take me this time."

Devimon stayed put at TK ran the knife up his right leg. His knee buckled. "Come on," he seethed, watching his blood flow out of him. He did the same to his left leg. The flickering of the Dark Ocean stopped as blood stained the jeans he was wearing.

"Hope," the voice whispered again.

TK's head shot up, looking for the source of the voice. It wasn't coming from Devimon's mouth. He felt his brows drop a sweat drop down his face as he tossed the knife to his left hand. Hs stabbed it down his forearm, getting the flickering to stop almost instantly. He was letting the light out; he didn't care how much it hurt. He thought about how it didn't hurt as much as he thought it would.

Devimon remained silent, standing in front of TK with the same evil grin. TK glared up at the Digimon in front of him, proud of overcoming the Dark Ocean from taking him. He changed hand with the knife, gripping the metal in the palm of his hand. He felt a cut as he gripped harder, trying to get the rest of the flickering light out of him.

TK's knees buckled under him and he fell to the ground. The knife fell from his hand. TK watched as Devimon hung over him, still smiling down at him. He didn't make a move to touch him. TK wondered if he had hurt the others in the living room. His legs wouldn't move to let him check. His heart raced, scared beyond belief. But Devimon didn't move. He didn't reach to hurt the human at all.

TK's head slammed back against the wall, closing his eyes for a moment. He didn't want to see what Devimon was going to do to him at all.

When he opened his eyes, Devimon was gone. He looked around, trying to see where he went. The blood smeared on his arms swirled around in pools of purple, sparkling with the light that remained from the Dark Ocean trying to take him.

TK took a deep breath, not knowing when Devimon would be coming back. His body felt tired, but his eyes didn't feel sleepy. He didn't know where Devimon went, but he knew he didn't have to strength to fight back the next time he showed up.

His phone rang in his pocket, the vibration hitting right below the cut in TK's leg. He cringed as he reached down for it and quickly answered the call.

"TK, where are you? None of your friends could tell me and Kami's parents said you weren't there," Matt asked, sounding frantic.

"Matt," TK whispered, looking down at the knife covered in his blood. "Devimon tried to get me. He tried to get the Dark Ocean to take me."

"What are you talking about?" Matt asked, his tone becoming even more nervous.

TK sighed, reaching over for the knife. "I stopped him once, but I don't have my Digivice. I couldn't send him back. He's gonna come get me again."

"TK, where–"

"But don't worry," TK cut off, leaning his head back against the cold wall. "I cut the Dark Ocean out of me."

"What the fuck did you do?" Matt yelled through the phone. "Takeru, where are you? I'm coming to get you."

"I'm on a trip," TK remembered, his eyes widening as he looked down at the deep cut on his palm. He was slowly aware of what he did.

"A trip?" Matt asked, furious. "A trip to where?"

"An acid trip," TK answered, holding his hand up as a drop of blood fell from his hand to the floor. "Matt, I'm bleeding."

"Who's with you?" Matt asked. "Has anyone called an ambulance?"

"I think Devimon killed them," TK answered in a somber tone that scared his brother. "I can't get up to check."

Matt didn't respond for a few seconds, leaving TK alone to listen to his own heavy heartbeat. He realized how hot he still was. His skin was sticky, now with sweat and blood.

"TK, listen to me," Matt finally responded. "I need you to call an ambulance. I'll take care of Devimon; don't worry about him."

"Okay, Matt," TK answered. He looked down at the blood splatter on the floor. It wasn't flickering anymore like it had been when it first left his body. He ran a finger through it, swirling it around on the floor. "I'm painting with my blood. That's not good, is it?"

* * *

 **AN: I hope you don't mind the cliffhanger I left this off with. I've also never taken LSD before, so I spent the whole time writing this fact-checking how LSD works. If something seems off, I do apologize. I tried to keep it factual, but it's also very hard to write an acid trip. I hope it didn't disappoint.**

 **I think I have two more chapters to write, and then I have two epilogues planned. I'll try to get them up before the end of the summer.**


	12. Don't Let Me Drown

" _Who will fix me now? Dive in when I'm down?  
Save me from myself, don't let me drown.  
Who will make me fight? Drag me out alive?  
Save me from myself, don't let me drown."_

 _Drown – Bring Me The Horizon_

* * *

Matt slid down in his chair, throwing his head into his hands. He didn't want to be in a hospital waiting room again. It was cold, parallel to the wind that hit him from every angle as he ran down the streets of the city trying to find where his brother was.

He checked the time on his phone: a few minutes passed 9:30. A text reply stared back at him, telling him that they would be there soon. Matt slide his phone back in his pocket and sighed again.

The waiting room of the ER was vacant besides the young adult. A few people had come passed him, but no one stayed as longer than he had. A yawn escaped passed his lips, reminding him that he had been up all night trying to find TK.

The sight of his little brother rattled in his mind. Matt cringed, remembering the paramedics bringing him in, red bandages on all his limbs. He was unresponsive from an antipsychotic they had given him when they found him. Matt was just thankful TK was able to call an ambulance by himself. The paramedics told him that he was the only one there when they arrived. He might have bled out if he was left overnight.

Matt groaned, shoving his head back into his hands. He couldn't believe the past twenty-four hours he just had. This wasn't what was supposed to happen, he knew that. His stomach twisted in knots just thinking about it. He wanted to scream or to hit something. So much anger was pent up inside of him.

But he also was scared. The scared feeling was motivating his anger. He was scared when he couldn't find his brother, and even more scared when he was on the phone with him. Seeing his little brother covered in his own blood was scarier than the night he overdosed.

The doors of the ER opened, but Matt didn't look up. He didn't care much for whatever else was going on.

A tap on his shoulder brought him out of his trance. "Coffee?" the person asked, sympathetic in tone. "I figured you could use it."

Matt looked up at Tai holding a coffee out to him. For the first time that morning, he smiled, gladly accepting his friend's offer. "Thanks for coming," he said as Tai sat down next to him. "Mom fell asleep hours ago. For once, I didn't want to be alone. Sorry I called you so early."

"It's not a problem," Tai waved off, taking a drink from his own coffee. "This is more important than another hour of sleep, anyway."

Matt smiled again, thankful for how reliable Tai had been that morning. Matt's head couldn't handle another moment alone in his thoughts. Tai had been there the morning after TK overdosed, so Matt felt comfortable calling him. He knew he would have to tell everyone eventually, but that could wait. Tai was his best friend and as much as Matt hated to admit it to himself, he needed his best friend with him. Even as adults, the two would always be there for each other.

"So what happened?" Tai asked, pulling Matt from his thoughts. "You just told me something about acid."

Matt sighed, gripping his coffee tight. "I'm not really sure either at this point. I haven't been able to see him and he's still sedated." He bit his bottom lip, trying to piece together what had happened. "He had been acting weird all week, so I invited our mom over to see if she could get it out of him, and maybe get him back to living with her. We got into a fight with him and he broke down on us, saying how he can't do anything right. He listed everything he ever did wrong, including stealing my car to go see your sister last weekend."

"He went to see Kari?" Tai asked, curious as to why his sister didn't tell him.

"Apparently. I didn't know either," Matt answered after taking another gulp of his coffee. "Anyway, Kari told him that they weren't going to go back to how they were, and that crushed him. He's been seeing this other girl for a few weeks now, and when he ran out, he said he'd stay with her that night."

Matt say Tai's body clench at the mention of TK with any girl that wasn't his sister, which Matt understood, considering the circumstance they were in. However, he ignored it, and continued.

"During our fight, I figured out that he had relapsed," Matt explained. "I don't know when; he didn't answer me. Next thing I know, I'm calling Davis and Ken and any of the younger DigiDestined who might know where this girl lived. Davis knew, but when I got to her apartment, her parents told me they already left. I got back in my car and called him myself."

Matt paused, unsure of how to handle the next part of his story. He still hadn't put what had happened into words himself, barely being able to explain anything to his mother earlier that morning.

"When he answered, he said Devimon had found and was trying to take him to the Dark Ocean," he continued.

"Like the one Kari went to years ago?" Tai asked.

"Yeah, that one," Matt answered. "It was all a hallucination from the acid, of course. He told me he dropped acid and that he was bleeding a lot. I got him to call the ambulance himself, since I couldn't find him. When he finally got to the hospital, he…"

Matt's voice trailed off. The words to describe what he saw didn't want to come out. TK was always better with words. He thought of how TK would describe how he looked, which would be a lot more poetic and tragic than anything Matt could hope to say. Still, he knew he had to continue.

"It looks like he cut himself open, once on both arms and both legs and once on his hand," Matt's voice shook, seeing the image of his brother over and over again in his head. "On the phone, he told me he had cut out the Dark Ocean, so I'm assuming that's why."

"Dude, what the fuck?" Tai whispered, staring down at the ground from his seat. He couldn't bring himself to look over at his friend after hearing the vulnerable waver in his voice. "That's a bad trip if I've ever heard one."

"They gave him an antipsychotic to get him to come down from the trip and he's been sedated since they brought him in," Matt finished, tapping his fingers on his cup. "Over one hundred stitches and a blood transfusion."

"Rough," Tai sighed, unsure what else to respond with.

"To make matters worse, he had a blood alcohol concentration of 0.144," Matt groaned. "So he was drunk, too."

"That doesn't make sense," Tai commented, catching Matt's attention from the ground. "Alcohol is a depressant and LSD is a stimulant. The alcohol should have suppressed most of the stuff LSD does."

Matt's eyebrows crinkled in confusion. "How do you know that?"

"I'm in college, Matt," Tai answered as if it was common knowledge. "Regardless, this isn't good. What are you and your mom gonna do?"

"We'll have to send him back to rehab," Matt answered hotly, angry about the situation. "I really don't want to. He's gonna miss so much school and he just started applying for internships and–"

"He's gonna miss the birth of their child," Tai interrupted, catching Matt off guard. Matt took note of the somber look on his friend's face. He hadn't really thought about that yet, but he knew Tai had a point.

"Maybe," Matt said, looking at the nurse that sat at the front desk across from them. "She's still got two months. He could be out before then. That is, if Kari even wants him there."

"I want him there," Tai abruptly claimed. "She's so damn adamant about keeping him out of it, but I think it would be good for both of them to be together when it's over."

Matt nodded, agreeing with him. After how TK talked about Kari during their fight, he knew it would be for the best if TK was there for the birth.

The two men sat in silence for a few minutes. It was around ten in the morning, and more people began coming into the ER. Matt counted in his head what their ailments could be, clenching his hand around his coffee at the two patients with large cuts. They reminded him too much of TK.

Matt groaned, finishing his coffee. "This sucks."

"I can get you another coffee. It's not a big deal," Tai said, noticing how Matt's cup was empty.

"Not that," Matt grunted, setting the cup under his seat. "This isn't how his life was supposed to go."

Tai sighed, grimacing at his friend. "Matt, I'm not sure what to tell you."

"I don't expect you to have an answer," Matt said, shaking his head. Resting his elbows on his knees, he threw his head down in his hand. "I don't think anyone has an answer. I just don't get it. What could possibly possess him to go do this?"

Tai coughed, feeling his cheeks get hot. "Could it be my sister?"

Matt's head shot up. A confused look fell across his face. "Kari? You think he relapsed because of her?"

"Well, not exactly her," Tai rushed to correct. "It's just that they were always attached at the hip, and now she doesn't want to be around him. That's gotta sting."

"He was really upset all week about her, not to mention the shitty month he's had with our mom," Matt noted, folding his hands. Confusion still clouded his face, unsure about anything they were discussing. "Do you know why she's pushing him away?"

"No clue," Tai glumly answered, shaking his head. "They sure are dumb."

Matt scoffed, rolling his eyes playfully. "The dumbest kids I've ever met."

The two young adults silently laughed, letting a comfortable feeling rest over them in their uncomfortable situation. It felt comfortable to laugh when all he had done the past twenty-four hours was worry. Matt barely had time to do much else, between trying to find his brother and sitting for hours on end in the hospital waiting room. He reminded himself how lucky he was to have a friend like Tai, who could make him feel better in a time like this, even if it was just for a quick moment.

Matt sighed, reaching into his pocket. "I have to tell Kari, don't I?" he asked, although he already knew the answer. "I know I'm going to have to tell the others TK's back in rehab eventually, but Kari should know the truth."

"You want me to do it?" Tai asked, pulling his phone out of his pocket.

"No," Matt answered, sighing as he found her contact information. "It should probably come from me." The blonde stood up and turned towards the entrance. "I'll be back in few."

Tai stood up behind him, quickly shuffling to catch up. "Not so fast. She's my sister," he defended, following him out of the moving doors. He pulled his phone out and called Kari before Matt could. "I'm putting her on speaker."

Matt groaned, but he put his cell phone away. His head swam with what he was going to say. With Tai, it came out so easy, but Kari was a different story. There was more at stake for Kari than Tai when it came to TK.

"Tai?" Kari answered mid-yawn. "It's ten in the morning. Isn't it a bit early for you to be up?"

"Hey, Kari, I've got you on speakerphone with Matt," Tai said, ignoring her jab at him.

"Oh," Kari trailed off, sounding concerned. "What's going on?"

"Uh, Kari," Matt said, hearing a waver in his voice. "It's about TK."

"I figured so," Kari replied, her voice holding the same concern as before. "Is he okay?"

Matt gulped, looking at Tai to help him out. Tai nodded, and answered, "He will be. We're standing outside the hospital waiting for any news."

"He's in the hospital?" Kari asked, her voice cracking. Her voice got quiet on the other end. "Oh, no. He relapsed?"

Matt winced, realizing how easy it was to figure out what was going on with his brother. "Yeah, he did. Um…" His voice stopped, not knowing how much he should share with her. The last thing he wanted to do was worry her even more than she already sounded.

"I knew it," Kari seethed, huffing on the other end. Her voice choked. "I knew he relapsed. I-I don't know how I did, but something about him last weekend just told me he did."

Tai saw the worried look on Matt's face as Kari rambled on about TK's behavior the previous weekend. "I can tell her if you can't," he whispered, holding his hand over the speaker.

"Kari, there's more," Matt abruptly said, ignoring Tai's help. Kari stopped speaking. Matt gulped again and exhaled loudly. "He took acid last night, too."

"He did what?" Kari cut him off, almost gasping.

"Calm down," Tai said, hearing the panic in his sister's voice. "Let Matt finish."

Matt sighed again, nodding his thanks to Tai. "I'm not completely sure what happened. All I know is that he had a bad trip and hallucinated Devimon. He, uh… He cut himself really bad."

"What was his BAC?" Kari asked, cutting him off again.

"0.144," Matt quickly answered. "The paramedics found him just in time. He almost bled out. He has a lot of stitches and needed a blood transfusion, but he's fine. Whenever he wakes up and recovers, Mom and I are sending him back to rehab for a little bit. I just… I just felt like you of all people should know, considering…" Matt didn't finish his sentence, knowing that Tai and Kari could piece together his reasoning.

"God dammit," Kari whispered, anger and hurt in her tone. "God dammit, Takaishi, this isn't what I meant."

"He's gonna be okay," Tai assured her, concerned by the tone in her voice.

"I'm coming home," Kari rushed, shuffling from the other end.

The men's eyes went wide at her statement. "That's really not necessary. He's going to be fine," Matt stuttered.

"You heard me," Kari huffed. "I'm coming home. I'll see you in three hours." With that, she hung up.

"Kari?" Tai called, confused when the screen said the call had ended.

Matt looked up at Tai, confused and concerned by what just went down. "Is she really going to come back?"

Tai shrugged, already holding the phone back to his ear. "I don't know," he honestly answered. "I'll try calling her again. You go take a nap."

"No, I'm fine," Matt defended, standing his ground.

Tai smiled, still waiting for Kari to answer. He put his free hand on Matt's shoulder. "You need some sleep. You're eye bags have bags." Tai turned Matt around and pushed him towards the entrance. "Now, go. I'll figure this out. You have enough to worry about."

Matt wanted to argue with his best friend, but he knew Tai was right. He hadn't slept in over twenty-four hours, and that coffee he had wasn't going to be enough. But still, he knew he wouldn't be able to fall asleep with all his thoughts of his little brother running through his mind. His own thoughts wouldn't let him rest.

Instead, he threw himself back down on his seat in the waiting room and rested his head on the wall behind him. "I like my eye bags, anyway," Matt scoffed.

…

A few hours had passed, and Matt's mind settled enough to let him get a short nap in the waiting room. He woke up just in time to hear Tai talking to his mother about him. Matt rolled his eyes, thankful that Tai had always been someone his parents liked. Tai had brought them some lunch to eat while they waited, but Matt could only stomach a few bites. His nerves came back as soon as he woke up.

Tai startled Matt from his thoughts. "I'm gonna try to call Kari again," he said, patting his friend's leg before walking towards the exit again.

Matt nodded, losing count of how many times Tai had tried to call his sister since he had woken up. She hadn't answered any calls since she had hung up on them hours ago, and Tai was starting to worry, remembering how concerned she sounded on the phone.

Pulling himself back to the current situation, Matt's eyes trailed over to his mother, who had been trying to get in contact with TK's therapist since he had woken up. Her phone was finally in her lap as she sat two seats down from him.

"They already have a room cleared for him at the rehabilitation center," his mother somberly informed him, staring down at the phone clutched tightly in her hand. "His therapist is going to clear his schedule for whatever day TK's released so he can be there when he's checked in."

"That's good," Matt said, hearing the uncertain tone in his voice that he knew his mother wouldn't ignore either.

"The doctor said he should be up soon and we can go back there in a little bit," Ms. Takaishi continued. "He didn't say much else, but it seemed important." She turned her head, reaching over the empty chair to grab her son's wrist. "You should be there for that. You did say you've parented him just as much as I have this past year."

Matt groaned, grimacing over at his mom. "Don't bring that up. I was just frustrated."

"Matt, I'm serious," Ms. Takaishi interrupted him. "Who knows where TK would have been if you hadn't intervened months ago? You've taken care of him when I had no idea where he was, or what he was doing. You've looked after your brother so much, and I owe you more credit for that than I give you."

Matt sighed, softening his grimace. Conversations with his mother were normally stoic and precise, but there was a vulnerability in his mother's tone that Matt couldn't bring himself to contradict. For the first time in years, she was trying to connect with her eldest child. Matt couldn't counter her.

"Okay," he conceded, thankful for his mother's stubborn nature to wane on this issue. "I'd like to be there. I'm worried about him."

The tension between the two faded as Matt conceded to this mother's idea. It would be a lie if he said he didn't feel some validation for the effort he put in with his brother. The relationship he had with their mother always suggested that Matt couldn't handle disciplining his brother, that Matt had just been TK's friend instead. But Matt knew better than to let his younger brother slide on the horrible thing he did.

Matt didn't have much time to think about his mother's sudden approval. A doctor walked out in to the waiting room and caught Ms. Takaishi's eye. She immediately sprung up, causing Matt to cautiously follow.

The doctor nodded at the two of them as he approached. "Takeru Takaishi?" he asked, waiting for their affirmative response before motioning them to follow him. "You can follow me, please."

"Is there any news?" his mother asked, keeping one step behind the doctor and two steps ahead of her son.

The doctor didn't turn around, instead keeping ahead as he took them around a turn. "Your son is going to be fine. The sedatives should wear off soon and he could be up in as little as twenty minutes, although he'll be a little out of it."

Matt didn't say anything, but he expected as much. He shoved his hands in his pockets, reminding himself to text Tai where they had gone when the doctor left them.

The doctor stopped the two in front of a door, checking a clipboard hanging outside before placing a hand on the door handle. "There's a few things I would like to discuss with you about your son's treatment before he wakes up," he said, keeping an air of professionality as he opened the door to TK's room.

Matt wasn't taken aback like his mother was. The sight of TK laying in a hospital bed wasn't too chilling to him in comparison to what he saw earlier that day. His brother looked a lot better laying there bandaged than when they brought him in. His mother hadn't seen that, though, so he understood her concern. Still, Matt felt more relieved by the sight than anything.

He placed a hand on his mother's shoulder, moving her towards one of the two waiting seats in the small room. "Here, sit down," he whispered quickly, not wanting to delay the doctor's diagnosis. Matt stood next to her, keeping a supportive hand on her shoulder as they both watched the doctor tick off marks on the clipboard he had grabbed outside the door.

"Okay," the doctor muttered, making one last final note before returning his gaze to the family. His professional face was replaced by a gentle smiling, seeing how concerned the mother was. "Like I said, your son is going to be fine. There's just a few procedural things we have to discuss with you in order to better care for him."

Matt nodded, speaking on behalf of his nervous mother. "Go ahead."

The doctor flipped through some paper on the clipboard. "Well, as you know, Mr. Takaishi was brought here from an adverse reaction to a psychedelic drug with large cuts down his arms and legs. While we can guess that the physical injuries were brought on by negative reaction to the drug, we can't exactly write this off as just that."

Matt's eyebrows narrowed, confused by the analysis. "What do you mean?"

"Whenever we have a patient come in with self-inflicted injuries, we must treat that as a potential suicide attempt, regardless of the circumstance," the doctor continued, looking up from the page he was on. "We'll have a better understanding after a psych evaluation when he comes to, but for now, I'm obligated to place him under a period suicide watch for the time being."

His mother's shoulder shook under his hand at doctor's obligation. "Are you saying my son tried to kill himself?" she asked, her voice husky and weak.

The doctor shook his head. "We can't be sure until he's seen by our psychologic specialists."

Matt squeezed his mother's shoulder, silently trying to comfort her. "Anything else?" he asked, trying to get off the topic.

The doctor nodded and flipped another page on the clipboard. "We also looked at his medical history and saw a hospital visit in May with a three-month rehabilitation stay following that visit. It's important to note that there was alcohol in his system this morning when he was brought in."

"We've already been in touch with the rehabilitation center," Matt quickly responded, knowing where the conversation was heading. "We'd like for him to go back for further treatment."

The doctor nodded, closing the papers on the clipboard. "I can arrange for a direct transportation upon release."

Matt quickly thanked the doctor, shaking his hand as he left the family in the room. Matt looked over at his little brother and exhaled loudly, walking around the waiting chair beside his mother.

"Do you think that's what he was trying to do?" his mother asked, shock in her voice.

Matt didn't need to ask what she was talking about; he already knew. "No, Mom, I don't," he answered, shaking his head.

"It would make sense for how unstable he's been acting," she added, worried.

"I don't think TK was trying to kill himself," Matt seethed, slamming his fist on the arm of the chair. This startled his mother, an action he felt bad about. He didn't know why he was so mad at the suggestion. Matt didn't want to dwell on that thought. His brother almost dying twice in one year was enough for him. He'd let the doctors figure that question out.

Exhaling loudly, Matt pulled out his phone. "I gotta tell Tai where we are before he flips out."

"Is that girl really coming back?" his mother asked.

"Don't call her 'that girl,'" Matt demanded, glaring over at his mother. "She has a name and you've known it for years now."

Ms. Takaishi sighed, conceding to her son's demand. "Is Kari really coming back?"

Matt rolled his eyes. "Have you ever thought that maybe your constant micro-digs at Kari and their situation didn't help TK at all?"

"What are you talking about?"

"TK told me how you constantly talked about this situation and how derogatory you've talked about Kari these past months," Matt replied, hearing the nerve seethe in his voice. "Don't you think you've been kinda shitty towards him about this? Don't you think maybe that had a part in driving him here?"

Ms. Takaishi remained silent, glaring hurt at her son for his suggestion.

Matt scoffed, looking down at his phone to read Tai's reply. "You heard him last night. Half of everything he said he did wrong involved Kari. He already felt like he ruined his best friend's life and he couldn't do anything about it. You reminding him repeatedly couldn't have helped."

"Matt, TK's problems aren't about a girl," Ms. Takaishi sternly stated. "They're about his own addictive personality and trauma."

"The kid is dependent," Matt interrupted. "He has been his whole life. First it was me, then it was Patamon, then it was Kari, and then it was alcohol _and_ Kari. He doesn't know how to function on his own. Why do you think he attached to that new girl so quickly?"

"And why are you just now telling me this?"

"Because sitting in a waiting room for hours on end gives you time to think about things like this," Matt curtly responded, moving his stare away from his mother over to his brother. He sighed, throwing his head down. "I know this is hard; it's been hard on me, too. But when Kari gets here, be nice with her. No backhanded remarks or looks."

"So she is here?" his mom interrupted.

"She's just as worried as we are," Matt continued, paying no attention to his mother's question. "She drove three hours on five-minutes notice to get here for him. She cares."

Ms. Takaishi looked over at TK, checking to see if he was stirring. Looking over at her, Matt couldn't tell what was going through her mind, but it didn't look promising. He knew their mother wasn't comfortable with any of the situations his brother was in, but Matt also knew that she would have to get over it if she ever wanted her relationship with TK back.

Matt sighed, gripping his digivice in his opposite pocket. "Did TK ever tell you about the crests?"

"Is this some kind of Digital World thing?" his mother groaned.

Matt cringed, remembering how his mother hated any mention of the Digital World. He ignored her remark anyway. He pulled his digivice out, holding it up for his mom to see. "We each have a crest that we're essentially the embodiment of. They keep the Digital World balanced and intact, and allow our Digimon to digivolve to higher levels."

Ms. Takaishi shook her head. "What's your point, Matt?"

"My _point_ is that some of these crests are intertwined," Matt continued, annoyed by the interruption. "My Crest of Friendship is intertwined with Tai's Crest of Courage, kinda like how TK's Crest of Hope is intertwined with Kari's Crest of Light. Hope and Light are some of the most powerful forces in the Digital World. Their Digimon even Digivolve into similar levels. Angemon, Angewomon; It's not a coincidence."

"Matt, I don't get what you're trying to say."

He exhaled loudly, looking over at his brother asleep. "I guess what I'm trying to say is that he needs her, in some capacity, just like she needs him. Although, it seems like she's a bit more stubborn about that fact than he is."

He looked over at his mother biting her lip, gripping tightly to the purse in her hand. "So I guess what you're telling me is that I need to let them be?" she asked skeptically.

"I'm telling you that you need to back off a little," Matt said, putting his digivice away. "These two have been in worse situations than what they are now, and they've come out fine."

He reached out and placed a hand on his mom's knee, getting her attention. Her face looked scared and nervous. "I know you want to help him, but degrading something he already feels horrible about is just hurting him more."

"So you're saying it's all my fault?" she asked, sniffling as she tried to hold back tears in front of her son.

"No," Matt groaned, looking down at his folded hands over his knees. "None of this is anyone's fault but his own. He has a problem and doesn't know how to cope with difficult situations well. I'm just trying to say that the people around him aren't helping him either, including me."

The two were silent for a few seconds as Matt's words sunk in. "Maybe that's what he needs to be focusing on instead of Devimon," he concluded, groaning as he opened his messages on his phone. "Tai and Kari are in the waiting room. Can I send them back?"

Ms. Takaishi just nodded, continuing to look at her sleeping son. Matt texted Tai the room number and directions, and sat his phone down on his lap. He looked up at his brother, trying to see any signs of stirring on his face. There was nothing. His whole body remained still, besides the shallow puff of his chest to prove to them he was breathing. The thin white blanket covered the bandages on his legs, but his arms were resting on top, wrapped in white to conceal his cuts. Matt gulped as the phone call the previous night played in his head again. He remembered TK telling him he was painting with his own blood. The image of his little brother's finger swirling around in his blood on the floor made him shudder. He wanted TK to wake up and tell him it had all been some kind of joke, but Matt was more realistic than that.

A knock on the door brought Matt out of his own thoughts. Ms. Takaishi looked over at Matt somberly, as if to tell him that she didn't have the strength to get up and get the door herself.

Matt nodded. "Come in," he called, hoping the people on the other side could hear him.

From behind the door, Tai slipped in alone. "Is he awake?" he asked, his eyes immediately turning over towards a sleeping TK. "I really don't want her seeing him like this, but I don't know how long she can wait."

"I don't blame you," Matt conceded, moving his eyes from his best friend to his brother. "The doctor said he'd be up within twenty minutes, but we've been waiting for ten, so who knows. How is she?"

Tai sighed, hanging his head down as he kept his back pressed against the door. "She's stressed, to say the least. She took the first train here with just a small suitcase. She's had a lot of time to worry."

"That's not good for…" Matt trailed off, knowing the other two in the room would know what he was talking about.

"Yeah, I know," Tai whispered, giving Matt an uneasy smirk. "I think I'm–"

A pounding knock came from behind Tai. "Tai, let me in. I have to see him," Kari's voice called from the other side of the door. Matt could practically feel the worry drip from every syllable.

"Kari, just–" Tai began, but was immediately cut off.

"Let her in," Ms. Takaishi said, staring over at her youngest child. "Let her see the gravity of his situation. Maybe then when he comes to, he'll see what he's doing to everyone else."

Matt winced at the blunt statement his mother made. It was harsh, but Matt knew that if anyone would get TK to understand what he was doing, it would be Kari. He looked back between his mother and Tai before nodding. "It's up to you. You're her brother."

Tai huffed, knowing that Ms. Takaishi was right. Another knock came from behind the door, with another plea to let her in. "Okay," he answered, turning around to open the door.

Matt stood up and walked over to the opposite wall, opening a seat for Kari if she wanted it. He had done enough sitting that day anyway. Kari looked different from the last time Matt had seen her, but it was to be expected. Her hair was longer than normal and her pregnancy was farther along. He felt his heart catch at the hitch in her breath as she laid eyes on TK. Her hands flew up to her mouth, trying to stop any noise from coming out. This was the most emotion he had seen from her in a while.

"Oh my god," Kari whispered from behind her hands. "Oh my god, what did I do?"

"You didn't do anything," Matt reminded, folding his arms over his chest.

"I pushed him away. I told him we wouldn't be the same and he…" she began crying, backing up to her brother for support. "This is all my fault."

"No, it's not," Ms. Takaishi said, surprising Matt. She stood up from her chair and walked over to Kari, placing her hands on her shoulder. Matt leaned off the wall, dropping his arms in shock at his mother's gesture. "I have the same thoughts you do. I pushed my son away because I've never been able to understand anything about the Digital World, and that seems to be the root of most of his issues. But we can't blame TK's problems on anyone but himself. It's something I'm still trying to deal with, and something you'll have to learn, too."

Kari stared at Ms. Takaishi dumbfounded. "I thought you hated me after all this," she said.

Ms. Takaishi gave a small laugh and looked over at her oldest son. "Someone told me that I was misplacing my anger."

Matt smiled sympathetically and nodded over that the two women.

Their mother looked back at Kari, keeping her hands on her shoulders. "I've put a lot more blame on you doing this whole thing than I should have. I can't apologize enough for what I've done to you and TK."

Kari shook her head, feeling a leftover tear scroll down her cheek. "Don't apologize. I have to take half of the responsibly in this at least," she said, nodding down to her stomach.

Ms. Takaishi laughed again and pulled Kari in for a hug. "I miss seeing you around the house," she admitted. "I know how important you are to my son, and I want to thank you for caring about him so much."

"He's my best friend," Kari whimpered. "I'll always care about him no matter what. I just can't stand to see him like this."

TK's mom pulled away and turned around to face him. Tai placed a hand on Kari's shoulder, turning her around. "Kari, let's get some food in you. It was a long trip. TK will be awake when we come back."

"No, I need to wait for him," Kari demanded, turning back around to look at TK. "Besides, I feel too sick to eat."

"Listen to your brother," Ms. Takaishi interjected. "You need to eat something, even if you aren't feeling too well. I was consistently nauseous when I was pregnant with Matt. Just because you feel sick doesn't mean the baby doesn't need nutrients. Small meals, bland foods."

Kari nodded, a rush of red coming to her cheeks. "Can do," she replied, saying goodbye to Matt before following Tai out.

Matt walked back over to this mother and they both sat back down. "Since TK can't say it right now, I'll say thank you for him," Matt said, smiling over at his mom.

"I just saw how worried she was about him and something clicked in me," his mother confessed, grabbing onto her purse again. "She cares so much about him. I shouldn't be pushing her out of his life, despite what's happened in the past."

"I think this baby has been her wake-up call," Matt noted, moving his gaze back to his brother for the dozenth time. "That, and TK almost dying twice."

"I've always liked her before this," his mom commented. "She really makes your brother happy."

Matt nodded, looking back on his brother's friendship with Kari. The Digital World made them grow up faster than Matt and Tai would have liked them to, but it also brought them closer together. Kari has been TK's greatest friendship outside of Matt. There was a lot credit Matt had to give to the Crest of Light.

The older brother sat back and leaned his head on the wall behind him, closing his eyes and waiting for his brother to finally stir to figure out what was going on with him.

* * *

Pain shot through his head as his eyes tried to fight the heavy sleep to flutter open. He felt his face scrunch up, but he couldn't open his eyes to see. His body felt sore and stiff, and his stomach lurched, like he was going to vomit. He didn't have anything in his stomach to vomit up though.

He knew he was laying on his back, a position he was unfamiliar in alone. He didn't feel anyone else with him. He tried to move his hands to feel for someone, but a tug of a wire connected to him kept him still. A sharp pain also soared up his arm, letting him to stop moving.

He tried to take a deep breath, but his chest felt heavy against his lungs. His whole body felt heavy laying down on the bed. Nothing about his position was comfortable, but he knew better than to move, after his experiment with his hand.

His eyes still remained closed, though his face grimaced trying to open them. Even though he had just woken up, he was exhausted and wanted to turn over to go back to sleep. But something bugged him, telling him not to. As he became more conscious, his body became more aware that he was not the only one in the room.

He let out a little groan, half to let anyone who was there with him know he was up and half to show the discomfort he was in.

"TK?" he heard his mother's voice whimper from across the room. He grimaced again, realizing why he felt horrible. He opened his mouth to respond, but nothing came out.

Two sets of footsteps echoed in the room as they came closer to him. "How are you feeling?" Matt's voice asked.

TK, still unable to pull the weights off his eyelids, groaned and turned his head away from where their voices were. "Shit," he managed to get out, startled by the raspy sound of his own voice. "Heavy," he whispered again, taking in a few long breaths to try to get his voice to normal.

Matt scoffed playfully, letting TK know he was alright, despite how bad he felt. "I'd feel heavy too after being pumped full of sedatives."

TK winced, not remembering much on how he got here, but just knowing he messed up again.

"Can you open your eyes?" his mother asked.

TK grimaced more. "No. Heavy," he answered, groaning as he tried to do what his mom asked him to do.

"Do you know where you are?" his brother asked.

"Hospital?" TK answered, almost questioning if he was right. He figured he was in the hospital, considering how bad he felt, but he wasn't sure why.

"Yeah, you are," Matt said, pulling TK from his attempt to open his eyes. "You took LSD last night and cut yourself pretty bad. Do you remember any of that?"

Without warning, TK's eyes shot right open as his heart pounded in his chest. Memories of the night before flooded back as his eyes darted around the room trying to find Devimon. "He's coming for me," he hoarsely whispered, trying to sit himself up only to be pushed back down by Matt. "Stop. I've gotta get out of here. I gotta find Patamon."

"TK, it wasn't real," Matt stopped him, holding him down on the bed. "You've gotta stay still. The sedatives haven't completely worn out yet and you're really hurt. You need to be careful."

TK's eyes stopped wandering the room searching for Devimon to lock on to his brother's face. The cold, worried expression wasn't new, but something felt different this time. Matt looked away as soon as he realized TK was staring, causing TK's eyes to follow where Matt was looking. Bandages wrapped around both of his arms, leaving just a little room for an IV drip in his right inner elbow. He bit the inside of his lip, understanding how severe his situation was.

"Do you remember anything about last night?" his mother asked, breaking the silence between the two brothers.

TK tried to gulp, but his mouth was too dry. "I – uh, I remember dropping acid," he weakly said, setting his head back down on the pillow and closing his eyes again. "It was a blotter sheet. I don't know why I did it. The next I remembered, Devimon appeared and was trying to kill me." He tried to smirk, but his face didn't move. "I guess it was a bad trip, huh?"

"Takeru, how could you be so irresponsible?" his mother began, stopping as Matt put a hand on her shoulder.

"Stop. He hasn't even been up for five minutes," Matt argued, feeling sorry for his brother. "Let him get his bearings."

Their mother stopped asking questions for the time being and let Matt take over. "I don't want to overwhelm you, so we'll talk about this in-depth later, but the doctors want to keep you here for a few days, just to make sure you're okay."

"Seems reasonable," TK whispered, understanding what Matt was implying. He remembered shoved a knife in to each of his limbs. That didn't imply mental stability to him either.

"And we know you relapsed with alcohol again," Matt confronted, trying his best to sounder understanding and stern at the same time. He didn't want to push TK further away, but he had to let him know that he was disappointed.

"Probably not the best idea to chug some vodka before going out," TK noted, remembering his drink in Kami's room. "I really relapsed about a month ago. It started off as an accident. I didn't know there was alcohol in the drink until after I drank it. I guess things just spiraled from there."

"Well, thank you for being honest with us," Matt thanked, feeling even worse that TK just openly confessed to wat he did instead of having Matt pry it out of him. "But you know what we have to do, right?"

"Please send me back to rehab," TK begged, opening his eyes to show how sincere he was at the gesture. "I'm not ready to be independent. I don't know how to cope without falling back in to bad habits. I wasn't ready to be out."

Matt sighed, thankful that TK understood that he needed help. He wanted to correct his brother on his dependency issues, but decided to wait a little longer when he was more awake. The room remained in silence. Matt checked his phone, getting a message from Tai that he and Kari would be back soon. He showed the phone to his mother, who just nodded her understanding.

"TK, there's a lot we need to talk about on what happened yesterday, not only your relapse, but what happened at dinner yesterday," his mother began, placing her hand in her son's hand. "That can wait for a little bit, but we will talk about it, because it worried me and it obviously concerns you."

"If it's what I said about Kari, I–" TK groaned.

"It is," his mother interrupted him, stopping him from hearing any excuses from him. "Your brother and I talked, and I realized I was being way too controlling and demeaning about the whole situation."

TK's eyes squinted in confusion. "You're apologizing?"

Matt nudged his mother, showing her a new message on his phone. "I am. We can talk about this more later. There's someone else who you need to see now more than me."

TK was more confused by his mother's sudden change of heart than anything else from the previous twenty-four hours. He looked over to his brother for clarification only to receive a somber smile. "You can't be mad me when I tell you this," Matt said.

"Tell me what?" TK asked suspiciously.

"I asked Tai to come sit with me this morning in the waiting room, and well…" Matt trailed off, running his hands into his pockets nervously. "We had to call Kari."

TK groaned, pushing his head farther in to the pillow hoping to disappear. "No, why, Matt? She has enough to worry about, and now you add this to mix."

"TK, she needed to know," Matt defended. "You don't know how long you'll be in rehab. She could have the baby by then."

"I'm sure she wouldn't mind," TK countered, wanting to curl himself up in a ball, but his body was still too heavy to move that much.

"She minded enough to get on the first train back here," Matt curtly informed him.

This got TK to quickly lift his head from the pillow, trying to push himself up. "She did what?"

Matt reached over, adjusting the pillows behind his brother to let him sit up. "She was so worried, she told us she was coming back and hung up on us. She didn't answer any calls from us until she got here." Matt pointed a thumb towards the door. "She's right outside waiting for you."

The heavy sensation that overcame his body was being taken over by the fast pounding of his heart. His face twisted up, nervous. "Wait, she… She came back? For me? But I…"

"Listen, I don't know why Kari does what she does," Matt said, shaking his head as he looked away from his brother. He felt his coldhearted demeaning coming back, knowing that's what TK needed to see from him. "Hell, I barely know why you do what you do. But you two have a lot of things you need to work out if either of you want to get back to normal."

TK looked over at his mother, confused. "And you're okay with this?"

Ms. Takaishi nodded back. "After what I've seen today, yeah."

TK looked back at his brother, feeling his heart tighten in his chest. "Oh god, I'm fucked," he whispered, trying to lift his hands off the bed. "I'm absolutely fucked. Look at me: I'm lying in a hospital bed after a bad acid trip and the woman carrying my child is right outside the door. She'll never want to see me again after this. I am fucked."

"You've gotta stop this," Matt groaned, throwing his head back in frustration. "You've got to stop thinking the worst when it comes to her. She dropped everything she was doing and rushed right over here to be with you. I don't think she's going to immediately drop you."

TK took a deep breath in, trying to calm himself. He wanted to believe his brother, but his mind started to race with everything wrong that could happen between him and Kari. The weight from the sedatives was being replaced by the weight of guilt. "But she told me–"

"TK, if she really didn't want you in her life, do you think she would be here?" Matt argued.

TK's breath hitched at how blunt his brother was. He wanted to believe him, but his conversation with Kari the week before kept popping up in his mind.

Matt exhaled loudly, folding his arms back up to his chest. "She's your best friend. Stop being so worried."

TK didn't respond. He watched anxiously as Matt motioned for his mother to follow him out of the room. Ms. Takaishi looked back at her youngest son and nodded at him somberly. He could tell her was concerned, which she had every right to be. But something about this look felt different to him.

Adjusting the pillows behind him, he sat himself up higher, leaning forward to stretch out his back. A pain jolted through his legs, reminding him that he had cuts there too. He groaned, annoyed at his own situation. He tried to raise his arms above his head to stretch them out, but his right arm got caught on the IV line. Wincing as he lowered his arm to try not to pull out the IV, the door creaked open, causing him to look up.

Kari's cautious eyes met his paranoid ones as she slowly shut the door behind her. Neither one of them said anything as she slowly grabbed one of the chairs and slid it over towards his bed. An awkward cover clouded over them as no one broke the silence. Kari sat down and folded her hands in her lap, looking around the room at anything but TK.

TK coughed, getting Kari's worried attention. "I'm fine," he assured, clearing his throat again. "Mouth's just kinda dry."

Kari nodded, looking away from him again. "So, uh… How are you feeling?"

"I've been better," TK admitted. "But I've also been worse. How, uh, how are you?"

"I'm fine," Kari quickly answered, looking down at her thumbs playing without themselves.

"How's your stomach been? You told me you get nauseous a lot–"

"TK, don't," Kari interrupted. "You're in the hospital. Don't ask about me."

TK winced, looking away from her. "Sorry. So what are you doing here anyway?"

Kari stood up and turned around, pacing the floor. "I-I don't know. Tai and Matt called me this morning and I just… It seemed like my only option was to come back. I was worried, okay?"

"I'm sorry," TK apologized, feeling the guilty weight sink farther in him. "I never meant to make you worry. I don't even know why I did this."

Kari stopped pacing and looked over at him. "TK, I've always been worried about you. You can't stop that."

"But I shouldn't make you worry even more," he interjected. "You can't always be the one that carries both of us."

"But it's what I do best."

"You don't think I worry about you?" TK asked, still feeling guilty. "Maybe that's our problem: we worry too much about each other."

"TK, if you haven't noticed, you almost died twice this year," Kari bluntly responded.

"And Kari, if _you_ haven't noticed, you're twenty-eight weeks pregnant with my child," TK returned just as blunt. "I think I'm allowed to be worried about that."

"Okay, enough, you two," Matt exclaimed, barging into the room with Tai. The two teenagers jumped at the sudden intrusion, a red blush of embarrassment rushing to their cheeks. "We leave you for five minutes and you're already fighting."

"You, sit down," Tai demanded, point from Kari to the seat she pulled up. Kari did as Tai told her to do, her cheeks becoming a darker red.

"What are you guys doing?" TK sighed, annoyed at the intrusion.

"This has gone on long enough," Matt said, ignoring his little brother. He stood next to Tai, facing both of their little siblings with his arms crossed. "If you can't settle this problem yourselves, then I guess we'll have to step in."

Kari raised an eyebrow over at TK and then back to her brother. "Coming from the two people who fist-fought more than anyone?"

"Okay, but I think that's a little different than this," Tai responded, nudging Matt with his elbow.

Matt looked over at Tai was a confused face and then shook it off. Looking back over at the younger DigiDestined, he continued, "You have a lot of shit going on between you two, so you guys need to be able to talk this out like adults if you want to move pass this."

TK looked confused and frustrated. "Is this another intervention?"

Matt rolled his eyes. "Not everything is an intervention, TK."

The younger brother looked down at Kari, rolling his eyes. "It sure feels like it," he mumbled.

"Okay, enough," Tai stepped in, taking over the conversation. "We know that this has been a really tough time for you guys, but you can't keep being the dumbest people in the world."

Offended, both teenagers crinkled up their faces in disgust. "What?"

"Kari, I know you think that nothing is going to ever be the same after this baby is born," Tai continued, ignoring their blantant opposition to his comment.

"Because it's not," Kari stubbornly interrupted.

"But you're forgetting that you have control over the situation and it doesn't have the change everything if you don't want it to," Tai said sternly, making sure she understood what he was saying.

"And TK, you don't have to go running to whatever drugs you're on whenever you get upset by something going on in your friendship," Matt jumped in, turning from Kari to his brother. "If you don't like how something's going with her, you talk to Kari about it. She's your best friend; you should be able to do that."

The two teenagers faced each other, neither one of them speaking. They both knew what their brothers were saying held some truth, but they didn't know what to do.

Tai sighed, realizing that neither of them were going to speak. "You're both running from your problems instead of facing them." His thumb pointed towards Matt playfully. "You should know what that looks like. You saw it from him on your first trip to the Digital World."

Matt scoffed, shoving Tai's hand down form pointing at him. "This isn't about me," he noted, turning the direction back to the younger DigiDestined. "But Tai is right. Kari, you've always been pretty independent. And TK, you've always been really dependent. But now that you guys have to switch roles, it seems like neither of you know how to function."

"What do you mean?" Kari asked, her face holding its natural stubborn look.

"You want to do this whole thing yourself," Tai took over, pulling his sister's gaze from Matt. "When you found out about the baby, you immediately cut everyone off and moved hours away."

"Because I didn't want anyone to know," she refuted. "This isn't really something I want to get around."

"You weren't even going to tell the father," Tai matched.

"Because he didn't need to be worried about me," Kari answered angrily. She let out a shallow breath and her eyes went wide, realizing what they were talking about. "Oh."

"Oh?" TK asked, looking confused at Kari, who didn't move her sight from her brother. "Oh, what? I'm still confused."

"And TK," Matt said, ignoring the question asked. "You have a lot more going on in your head than you realize. You're an addict; You're not going to be better the next day after rehab. And you're really not going to get better if you run from your problems straight back to alcohol instead of talking them out, especially when those problems involve someone important in your life."

TK sat quieting and looked down at Kari, who finally looked at him. The two faced each other with somber looks on their faces, taking in what their brothers were saying.

"So, talk," Tai demanded, leaning back on the counter to move out of the way.

"I, uh…" Kari started, trailing off to gather her thoughts. "I guess I did, kinda, run away from this whole thing."

"And I guess I'm… pretty dependent on you," TK admitted, feeling a wave of embarrassment overtake him. "And I _do_ give you a lot to worry about."

"I-I do, too," Kari rushed to stuttered. She looked away from TK and eyed their brothers, looking back and forth from their eyes before looking down at her phone, nervously flipping it around in her fingers. "Maybe I should have let you take some responsibility. You probably wouldn't have worried as much."

"Or I would have worried more," TK noted, smiling a little. "It doesn't matter. I still probably would have relapsed." Kari looked back up at TK with concern on her face. TK help up his arm attached to the IV and smirked playfully down at her. "I have an addictive personality."

"Shut up," Kari laughed, rolling her eyes. "You know, when you came to visit me, you told me that you wanted to help me, and I still wouldn't let you. You actually made a lot of sense, but I was too stubborn to listen."

TK looked at their brothers, shocked. "I made sense?"

"Don't push it," Kari joked. She stood up from her seat and grabbed TK's hand. "Seriously, I should have listened to you."

"You did what you thought was right."

"And I've been miserable the whole time," Kari groaned. "I literally called you crying a week ago because I'm so miserable." She sighed, squeezing his hand. "I guess I wasn't completely right."

TK raised an eyebrow. He was confused trying to figure out what she was talking about. She wouldn't look at him, only down at his hand. Not knowing what to say, he squeezed her hand back, letting her know he was listening.

"Getting that phone call this morning scared me," Kari admitted, running her thumb over TK's hand. "It's like when I found you back in May. I know they told me that you were going to be fine, but… I don't know. It put a lot of things into perspective."

TK looked worried at her, wishing she was just look up so he could get a better idea of how she was feeling. "What do you mean?"

Kari sighed, moving her hand away as she backed up. She turned around and paced a little, trying to get her thoughts into place. "I guess what I'm trying to say is…" She stopped and faced him. "I'm gonna stay."

"What?" all three men in the room asked.

TK looked back and forth between Kari and their brother. "Y-You're gonna stay? Why? Not that I'm complaining or anything. It's just so different from everything you've been saying."

"TK, I was wrong," Kari admitted. "I thought I could take care of this myself, but I can't. I can't isolate myself like I have been. And I can't let you continue to worry about me either."

"You don't have to do this because of me," TK said.

"If I stay, then maybe I won't feel like our friendship can't be fixed," Kari admitted.

TK remained silent. He would be lying if he said that he wasn't concern with their future friendship. The past week had him more confused than he had ever been. Just the thought of losing Kari hit him hard. Even finding out that Kari had come to make sure he was okay made him nervous. His eyes wondered over her concerned face, noticing how sincere she looked. Compared to last week when she looked hopeless about their future, TK could tell she really wanted fix things.

He smiled gently at her, trying to get a laugh out of her. "You were being kind of dumb."

She glared at him before laughing. "I'm trying to be serious and you call me dumb?"

TK shrugged, laughing with her.

"But seriously," Kari continued, dying out the laughter. "I've spent this whole pregnancy just thinking about how things were going to be when it was over. Like how am I going to convince Mimi and Yolei that I didn't take any pictures abroad? And where am I going to stay I was studying in? And how am I going to hide this baby weight at the Digimon Christmas party?"

TK snorted trying to hide back laughter, receiving another playful glare from Kari.

"But most importantly, I've been trying to figure out how things are going to work with you," Kari admitted, bringing TK's mood down again. "I know we talked last week and I said things couldn't be the same between us, but…"

Kari trailed off, looking back and forth between the IV drip and TK's face. "It's not fair to you to ruin this friendship because I don't know how to get over this. So if you feel comfortable and you think it'll help, I'll stay."

TK bit the inside of his cheek. Being given this much power over Kari's decision rolled around in his head. "Kari, I don't want you to do anything you don't want to do. That's the way it's been since day one. But if you want to try to fix whatever is happening with this friendship, I'm game." His cheeks felt flush as he added quickly, "Once I get out of rehab, of course."

"I guess I can wait for that," Kari joked, before pointing down to her stomach. "I don't know if it can though. You got a lot to work on; who knows how long that could take."

TK rolled his eyes. He reached a hand out for her, nodding to come in his direction. "Get over here. I would come to you, but I'm still kinda sedated."

Laughing, Kari walked over to her best friend, who immediately wrapped her in a hug. Doing the best he could to avoid pulling the IV, TK held to her tighter, feeling the some of the tension from the past few months slip away. A soft hiccup pushed on TK's chest, followed by a sniffle. She was crying, not letting him go. Whether those tears were happy or sad, he couldn't tell. He ran his fingers through her hair, trying his best to calm her down without saying anything.

A familiar scent hit his nose as he continued to stroke her hair. It was comforting, like home. It smelled like Kari, or at least the shampoo she used. He felt relaxed, knowing that she was going to be back with him. In that moment, he realized just how dependent he was on her. Just the familiar scent could calm him and make he feel like things were going to be okay.

He knew he couldn't keep that up, but for now, he pushed the thought aside, letting Kari cry in to his chest. He was getting his best friend back and a second shot to make things right.

* * *

 **AN: This was the hardest chapter for me to write. I have no idea why. I really wanted to write it and make it perfect, but I had no inspiration to do so until the past couple days. Even so, I'm not completely satifised with this and feel it to be rushed. I plan on working out the parts I feel are rushed in the next chapter, as that's the chapter that I have so much inspiration for.**

 **Again, I apologize for the wait, any errors found, and for the rushed, incomplete feeling this chapter has. I feel a lot better about the final chapter and hope to get it up as soon as possible.**


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